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Farmer''s Idbrary, Vol. III. 



COMPLETE FARMER 



RURAL ECONOMIST; 



CONTAININO 



A COMPENDIOUS EPITOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BRANCHES 
OF AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL ECONOMY. 



By THOMAS G*.^ FES SE NDEN. 

ZDITOR OF "the NEW ENGLAND FARMER." 



AfricaUure is the art of an» : without it, man must be a savaje, and the world a wildemew. 

FOURTH EDITION, 
REVISED, IMPROVED, AND ENLARGED. 



BOSTON: 

OTIS, BROADERS, & COMPANY. 

PHILADELPHIA: 

THOMAS, COWPERTHWAITE, & CO 

1839. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1837, 

By Thomas G. Fessendf.n, 

in the ClerK's office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts 



^f^- 



PREFACE. 



In the following pages, the object of the writer is to give brief, but it 
is hoped perspicuous and practical sketches of some important improve- 
ments in modern husbandry. In attempting to carry this design into 
effect, it has been his intention to insert no matter which is merely con- 
jectural or speculative ; to give place to notliing not worth the attention 
of the person whose livelihood depends on his pursuits as a cultivator; 
and who has neither time nor money to devote to such books as are expen- 
sive, voluminous, and foreign or remotely related to available improve- 
ments in husbandry. 

With this view, the author has collected and generally abridged, from 
the sources which his occupation as editor of the New England Farmer 
has made it his duty as well as his pleasure to explore, the materials of 
the little work now submitted. He does not pretend to have taken a 
wide survey of the field of husbandry, much less, in this tract, to have 
given a plan of the whole premises. But he hopes his observations, 
though limited, may prove serviceable so far as they extend. Agricul- 
ture IS the most extensive as well as the most useful of the sciences ; and 
as an art may be compared to the ocean, in whicli every stream of im- 
provement in the moral and physical condition of mankind pours its con- 
tribution. Still, it is not necessary to circumnavigate the whole of this 
world of waters in order to make voyages of valuable discovery. We 
cannot dip an oar nor launch a skiiF in or upon the bosom of this great 
deep, without finding something to reward our adventures. 

Agriculture, although the most ancient of the arts, not only coeval 
with, but in truth the sun from which emanated the dawn of civilization, 
is, nevertheless, the art in which the beneficial effects of modern im- 
provement are most strikingly exemplified. Let us contrast its former 
with its present condition in Great Britain. 

According to English laws in force from the fifth to the eleventh cen- 
tury, " all the cattle of a village, though belonging to different owners, 
were pastured together in one herd, under the direction of one person, 
(with proper assistants,) whose oath in all disputes about the cattle was 
decisive. Their ploughs seem to have been very slight and inartificial; 
for it was enacted, that no man should undertake to guide a plough who 
could not make one ; and that the driver should make the ropes with 
which it was drawn of twisted willows. But slight as these ploughs 
were, it was usual for six or eight persons to fi)rm themselves into a 
society for fitting out one of them, and providing it with oxen, and 



IV PREFACE. 

every thing necessary for ploughing; and many minnte and curious 
laws were made for llie regulation of such societies. This is a sufficient 
proof both of the poverty of the husbandman and the imperfect stale of 
agriculture among tiie ancient Britons of this period."* 

" By the laws of Ina, king of the West Saxons, who flourished in the 
end of the seventh and beginning of the eighth century, a farm consist- 
ing of ten hides or ploughlands was to pay the following rent, viz. : ten 
casks of honey, three hundred loaves of bread, twelve casks of strong 
ale, two oxen, ten wethers, ten geese, twenty hens, ten cheeses, one 
cask of butter, five salmon, twenty pounds of forage, and one hundred 
eels."t Such has been the state of tillage in that country which is now 
eulogized as the garden of Europe ! 

Improvements in breeds of domestic animals by judicious crosses, and 
propagating from the best specimens of their species, as well as plentiful 
and suitable feeding, have advanced the state of agriculture more than 
the most sanguine advocate for scientific husbandry could have antici- 
pated. To say nothing of the wonders effected by Bakewell and other 
eminent improvers in that department of husbandry, we will glance at 
the comparative stales of the London cattle market at a distant and a 
less remote period. An English writer states, that " about the year 1700, 
the average weight of oxen killed for the London market was three 
hundred and seventy pounds; of calves, fifty pounds; of sheep, twenty- 
eight pounds ; and of lambs, eighteen pounds. The average weight at 
present (about the close of the century) is, of oxen, eight hundred 
pounds; calves, one hundred and forty pounds; sheep, eighty pounds; 
and lambs, fifty pounds." It would be a curious item in our agricultural 
knowledge, if information, similar to what we have quoted, relative to 
Boston and other Ameiican markets were correctly ascertained, faithfully 
recorded, and from time to time laid before the public. We should ad- 
vance with more celerity and alacrity along the highway of improve- 
ment, if we had means of marking and giving comparative views of the 
progress which we have made and are making. 

Some idea of the present state of agriculture in England may be 
gathered from the following extract from the journal of a traveller: 
" Every spot of ground capable of being cultivated is improved. Wher- 
ever I have been, the fields are generally small, inclosed by hedges, and 
made perfectly smooth by means of cast iron rollers. Numerous trees 
are left to grow around the hedges, and scattered over the fields. These 
are so nicely trimmed as to add greatly to the beauty of the country. 
Not a weed is suffered to grow. The crops all look well, and are much 
more productive than ours. The cattle and sheep feed on grass up to 
their knees, and look, as we should say, fit to kill. The slight inclo- 
Bures that keep them in their pastures would be but a poor protection 
against our lean, half-fed, unruly animals. Here the cattle have no 
need to break fences. They have food sufficient within their own do- 
mains. I came here under the impression that this country was bare of 
trees. On the contrary, I find it better stocked in this respect than the 
thick settlements of our own country. We wantonly destroy trees as if 
they were of no value : here they are planted and nursed with as much 
care as if they bore choice fruit." 

Although we think the writer last quoted has somewhat exaggerated 
the defects of American husbandry, we must allow, that his strictures 
are not so destitute of some foundation in reality as could be wished. 

* Loudon's Encyc. Agr. p. 36, t Wilkin's Leges Saxon,, p. 35. 



PREFACE. V 

We, however, have of late improved and are improving in every branch 
of culture, and bid fair soon to possess a system of agriculture as well 
adapted to our climate and circumstances, as Great Britain, or even 
Flanders, can boast of at present. Our fields may have a less imposing 
appearance, and our products may be less in proportion to the quantity 
of land we have under cultivation, and still our tillage be on the whole 
judicious. The agricultural implements and farming operations of the 
United States are in most particulars very similar to those of Great 
Britain. Circumstances and climate, however, require variations, which 
the sagacity of the American cultivator will lead him to adopt, often in 
contradiction to the opinions of those who understand the science better 
than the practice of husbandry. In Europe land is dear and labor cheap ; 
but in the United States the reverse is the case. The European culti- 
vator is led by a regard to his own interest to endeavour to make the most 
of his land ; the American has the same inducement to make the most of 
his labor. Perhaps, however, this principle, in this country, is generally 
carried to an unprofitable extreme, and our farmers would derive more 
benefit from their labor, as well as their land, if they selected such parts 
of their possessions as they can afford to till thoroughly, and to manure 
abundantly. A man may possess a large estate in lands, without being 
called on by good husbandry to hack and scratch over the whole as evi 
dence of his title. He may cultivate well those parts which are naturally 
most fertile, and suffer the rest to remain woodland, or, having cleared a 
part, lay it down to permanent pasture ; which will yield him an annual 
profit, without requiring much labor. 

The climate and soil of the United States are well adapted to the cul- 
tivation of Indian corn, a very valuable vegetable, which cannot be 
grown to advantage in Great Britain. This entirely and very advanta- 
geously supersedes the field culture of the horse bean {vicia fuba), one 
of the most common fallow crops in that island. Root-husbandry, or the 
raising of roots for the purpose of feeding cattle, is, however, of less im- 
portance in the United States than in Great Britain. The winters are so 
severe, that turnips can rarely be eaten by stock on the ground where 
they grow, and all sorts of roots are with more difficulty preserved and 
dealt out to stock in this country than in those which possess a more 
mild and equable climate. Hay is more easily made in the United 
States than in Great Britain, owing to the season for hay-making being 
more dry , and the sun more powerful in the former than in the latter 
country. There are many other circumstances which favor the American 
farmer, and render his situation more eligible than that of those who 
pursue the same occupation in most parts of Europe. He is generally 
the owner, as well as the occupier, of the soil which he cultivates : is 
not burdened with tithes ; his taxes are light ; and the product of his la- 
bors will command more of the necessaries, comforts, and innocent luxu- 
ries of life, than similar effoits would procure in any other part of the 
globe. 

Not only have the inducements to agricultural improvements in tha 
United States been powerful, but of late a corresponding effect has been 
the result. We cannot better make this evident, than by a quotation 
from " Remarks of tlit Rev. M. Alt.kn, of Pembroke, Countyof FhjmotUh, 
State of Massachusetts, in the Legislature of that State, on a proposition to 
renew an Act for the Encouragement of AgricvJturc and Manufactures" 
published in the New England Farmer, Vol. XII. p 2!)b. 

" It has already been suggested, that the soil of the county from which 
I came is not the most favorable for agricultural pursuits. The expense 
of cultivation there is thought by some to exceed the amount to be de- 
1* " ^ 



VI PREFACE. 

rived from it. This was the prevalent opinion before the introduction of 
modern improvements. The operations of an Agricultural Society 
have proved, that labor and skill can make even despised soils productive. 
I suppose that ten bushels of rye to the acre, twenty of Indian corn, one 
ton of English hay, and two hundred bushels of potatoes, were formerly 
considered as average crops. Since premiums have been offered, we 
have claims for from forty to fifty bushels of lye, from one hundred and 
fifteen to one hundred and twenty-two of Indian corn, from three to four 
tons of English hay, and from four to five hundred bushels of potatoes. 
Our improvements have not been confined to single acres; in several 
instances the products of entire farms have been more than quadrupled.'' 

The advances of agriculture of late years have not been uniform, but 
accelerated ; its progress has been in what mathematicians would call a 
geometrical ratio. Every step has furnished means for quickening the 
pace and extending the reach of the next step, and every path has led 
to a longer and wider avenue of improvement. The time may come, in 
which science may impress into the service of the cultivator every ele- 
ment or substance which constitutes the globe we inh;ibil, — the world 
of matter become completely subservient to the world of mind. Then 
and not till then will agriculture have attained the utmost degree of per- 
fection of which it is capable. 

T. G. Fessenden. 

Boston, May, 1834. 



CONTENTS. 



AgriculturaUmplemeBts, - - - -315 

Aphis, or Hlrtnt l.ouse, 309 

Apple-rive Horer, ------- 312 

Aslies KS Mumire, 203 

Hurley, ]^* 

harvesting of, - - - 136, 281 

Barns, 44, 71 

Barn-vards, -- -------'4 

Beans, '^-^ 

Beets, field cultivation and preserva- 
tion oi; 243 to 254 

Birds, the folly and criminality of de- 
stroying, -" 292 

Bones, use of for manure, - - - - 203 

Buckwheat, \l\ 

Bushes, how to evtirpate, - - - - 2ab 

Builer, how made ami preserved, - - 79 

how made in winter, - - - 87 

. - - - 54 to 61 

304 

307 

36 



Calves, ...--- 
Canker-worm, - - - - 
Caterpillar, ----- 
Cattle, 

Chair- cutting, - - - - 

Chatr- cutter, - - - - 

Cheese, making, - - - - 
cleaning of, - - 
Stilton, how made, - - - - au 
to prevent skippers in, - - 90 
to prevent having a bad flavor, 91 

Cheese Presses, -------- 322 

Churn, Gault's Patent, ----- 323 
Si one, - - - - 



. - 43 
- - 316 
88 to 92 
. - 90 



PACK 

- 212 

- 339 
. 204 

- 18 

- 19 

- 99 
19 



323 



Cli/ver, • 



on making into hay, -275 to 279 

Colts, 64, 242 

Coiloii, 2o3 

Cooking Food for Cattle and Swine, 

* 49 to 54 

Cow-house, -■""■"■■" ^o 

Cows, -•--"""""■" oa 

manner of milking, - - - 38 

winter food for, ----- 41 

working of, ----- ■ *2 
how treated when about to 



calve, 



how dried of their milk, - - 42 
Cultivators, ---------321 

Curculio, 308 

Curd Mills, 322 

Cut-worm, --------- 311 

Dairy, '8 

Dirt Scraper, Davis's Patent, - - -323 

Drains, 282 

Eggs, how to choose at market, - - 291 



Ewes and Lambs, ------ 

Farmer's Calendar, . - - - - 

Fences, ..-- ..--- 
Florin Grass. -.------ 

Flat-stalked Meadow Grass, - - 

Flax, - - - 

Floating Fescue Grass, - - - - 

Food fernienied for Neat Cattle, - - 46 

Fowls and Chickens, to fatten, - - - 291 

Grain, 25 

Grain Cradles, -------- 326 

Grasses, --------- 13 

proper lime for sowing, <fcc., 22,23 

Gvpsuni, 190 

Harrow, Chandler's improved, - - - 320 
Harvesting, --------- 279 

Oats, 281 

Hav-making, --------- 275 

Hedges, 206 

Hemp, -----------92 

Herd's Grass, or Timothy, - - - - 18 

Hops, I'S 

Horse, 230 

diseases of, ----- - 234 

stable for, 236 

Horse Rake, --------- 327 

Indian Corn, 25 to 36 

hoeing of, in dry weather, - 32 

planting or sowing for fodder, 34 

Insects, ---------- 302 

Irrigation, --------- 297 

l.acionieters, - -------- 322 

Lambs and Ewes, ------ - 212 

Lice on Apple-trees, ------ 311 

Lime, -----------182 

Lucerne, --------- 16,19 

Mangel-Wurtzel, 243 

how preserved, ----- 250 
Manures, ---------- 166 

liquid, 174 

for grass ground, - . - - 178 
how ma<le from swine, - - 181 
bones useful for, ----- 203 
articles used for, - - . - 203 

Marl, 198 

Meadow Foxtail, ------- 1« 

Milk for Butter, &c. - 79 

Millet, 137 

Oats, 131 

harvesting of, ----- 281 

J Smith's crop of, - - - - 134 

i Orchard Grass, --------1* 

OKen, ----- 61 

1 Pasture, 284 



VIll 



CONTENTS. 



„ PAGE 

Pasture Grasses, 21 

Pea. 147 

Insects in, and diseases of, - isi 
Pickering's Tree Uruslies, - . - . 321 
Plaster of Paris, ---.... 190 
Ploughing, -- 267 

mode of, by E. Phiuney, Esq. 273 

Ploughs, 319 

Potatoes, ----.-.. . 238 

Poultry, 289 

Pruning Shears, ........ 324 

Rice, -----.-.... 142 

Rough Cock's Foot, or Orchard Grass, 14 
Ruta Baga, ......... 231 

Rye, 124 

Rye Grass, -........'15 

Sainfoin, ... ...... . 17 

Scythes, Scythe Rifles, Scythe 

Snathes, . 324 

Seed Sowers, ........ 33(5 

Sheep, 208 

shearing of, ----- . 219 

disorders of, - - ... . 223 

Slug-worm, 313 

Smooth-stalked Meadow Grass, - - 19 
Soils, --...-..... 9 
Sows devouring their Offspring, - . 163 



Stable for horses, 236 

Straw Cutters, 3ig 

Striped Bug, 314 

Sweet-sceuied Vernal Grass, ... 14 
Swine, ---........ 155 

use of coal in fattening, - - 162 
Tall Fescue Grass, ...... 15 

Tall Oat Grass, 15 

Threshing Machines, 316 

Timothy, or Herd's Grass, .... is 

Tobacco, .......... 265 

Turnips, English, -.-.... 254 

Swedish, --..... 232 

Upright Bent Grass 18 

Wheat, ---.--.... 107 
preparation of for sowing, - 112 
to prevent smut in, - . 113,114 

use of lime for, 115 

how to obtain new varieties 

of, 118 

rust or mildew in, - - - . 119 
the kind called Black Sea 
Wheat, ....... 122 

Willis's Seed Sower, 33s 

Wire-worm, -..-..... 314 
Woodland, goi 



THE COMPLETE FARMER. 



SOILS. A farmer should be well informed of the nature 
of soils, .Tnd of the various plants adapted to them. Some 
useful plants flourish best in what is called poor land ; and, 
if cultivators were perfectly acquainted with the art of 
adapting plants to soils, much manure might be saved, which 
is wasted by injudicious and improper application. 

It is supposed by geologists that the whole of this earth 
originally consisted of rocks, of various sorts or combina- 
tions. '1 hese rocks, by the lapse of ages and exposure to 
air and water, became disintegrated or worn in part or alto- 
gether to fine particles, which compose what are called earths 
or soils. These soils are chietiy silica [sand or earth of 
flints], lime [or calcareous earth], alumina [clay], and mag- 
nesia [a mineral substance]. With these are blended ani- 
mal and vegetable matters in a decomposed or decomposing 
state, and saline, acid, or alkaline combinations. 

Plants are the most certain indicators of the nature of a 
soil ; for, while no practical cultivator would buy or under- 
take to till land, of which he knew only the results of chemi- 
cal analysis, yet every farmer and gardener, who knew the 
timber and plants a soil spontaneously produced, would at 
once be able to decide on its value tor cultivation. 

It was a maxim of Kliyogg, a famous philosophical farmer 
of Switzerland, " that every species of earth may be instru- 
mental to the improvement of another of opposite qualities." 
All sands are hot and dry, — all clays, cold and wet ; and, 
therefore, the nianuring sandy lands with clay, or clay lands 
with sand, is best for grain and pulse. But it is not the 



10 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

natural soil only that the farmer ought to consider, but the 
depth of it, and what lies immediately underneath it. For 
if the richest soil is only seven or eight inches deep, and 
lies on a cold, wet clay or stone, it will not be so fruitful a9 
leaner soils, that lie on a better under stratum. Gravel is, 
perhaps, the best under stratum to make the land prolific. 

The best loams and natural earths are of a bright brown, 
or hazel color. Hence, they are called hazel loams. They 
cut smooth and tolerably easy, without clinging to the spade 
or plotighshare ; are light, friable, and fall into small clods 
without chapping or cracking in dry weather, or turning 
into mortar when wet. Dark gray and russet moulds are 
accounted the next best. The worst of all, are the light 
and dark ash colored. The goodness of land may also be 
very well judged of by the smell and the touch. The best 
emits a fresh, pleasant scent on being dug or ploughed up, 
especially after rain ; and, being a just proportion of sand 
and clay intimately blended, will not stick much to the fin- 
gers on handling. But all soils, however good, may bo im- 
poverished, and even worn out, by successive crops without 
rest, especially if the ploughings are not very frequently re- 
peated before the seed is sown. 

If we examine tracts of land which have not been culti- 
vated, we find nature has adapted different kinds of plants to 
most of the distinguishable varieties of soils ; and though 
some belonging to one may for some cause or other be found 
on lands of a different quality, they seldom thrive, or perfect 
their seeds so as to become general. The great care of the 
farmer ought, therefore, to be, by proper mixtures, to reduce 
his land to that state and temperament, in which the extremes 
of hot and cold, wtt and dry, are best corrected by each 
other ; to give them every possible advantage flowing from 
the benign influences of sun and air ; and to adopt such 
kinds of plants as they aflbrd in this state the greatest nour- 
ishment to ; and to renew their fertility by a judicious allow- 
ance of the most proper manures. Where these things are 
done, there are few spots so unfriendly to cultivation as not 
to repay his expenses and labor with a plentiful increase. 
But without these, the best tracts of land will in time be- 
come a barren waste, or produce little but woods. 

The color of soils is important. " The Farmer's Journal " 
observes, coal ashes were sprinkled over half the surface of 
beds, sown with peas, beans, &.C., and on these the plants 
invariably appeared above ground two or three days earlier, 



AND nURAL ECONOMIST. 11 

obviously on account of the increased warmth ; it being a 
well-known fact, that dark-colored bodies absorb caloric 
more readily, and in larger proportions than those of a 
lighter hue. 

Soils which absorb the most moisture are the most fertile. 
Sir Humphrey Davy observed, "I "have compared the ab- 
sorbent powers of many soils with respect to atmospheric 
moisture, and I have always found it greatest in the most 
fertile soils ; so that it affords one method of judging of the 
productiveness of land." 

The methods of improving soils are too numerous to be 
here fully specified. We will, however, quote one mode of 
restoring worn-out fields to the fertility of new lands, or 
lands lately cleared from their aboriginal growth of timber, 
quoted from a " Dissertation on the Mixlure of Soils," for 
which the author, the Rev. Morrel Allen, of Pembroke, 
Massachusetts, was awarded a premium by the Plymouth 
County Agricultural Society. 

" Particles in a soil, which had long been in contact, and, 
in consequence of long connexion, lost much of the energy 
of their action on plants, are separated in mixing soils, placed 
in new connexions, and act with renewed vigor. But the 
most permanent and best effects are always expected from 
the mixture of soils of different qualities. When the object 
is to produce as much immediate influence as possible, 
merely to assist one short rotation of crops, to have the ap- 
plication we make act chiefly as manure, then we may take 
our materials from any situation where we know vegetable 
substances have fallen and decayed. 

"We may go into forests, and in certain stages of the 
growth of the wood, without any perceptible injury, skim 
the surface of the whole lot. This soil of the woods, carried 
in sufficiently large quantities on to old fields, will restore 
them to original productiveness. And this will sometimes 
prove an inexhaustible resource for renewing old fields ; for 
as often as the fields decline, the soil in the wood lot will be 
again renewed and fit to remove. For the same purposes 
the earth should be carried from the sides of walls and fen- 
ces, where the leaves have been lodged from the forests. It 
should also be carried from hollows and temporary ponds, 
which in certain seasons of the year become dry, and afford 
immense quantities of vegetable matter in ditferent stages 
of decomposition, and suitable to apply to any kind of soil. 

" Where streams of water occasionally overflow the banks. 



12 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

an abundance of vegetable and earthy matter is lodged on 
the meadows, which in many cases, especially where there 
is not much extent of meadow to receive the substances 
conveyed by the stream, it is prudent to remove on to higher 
land. It will there act as manure, and at the same time 
gradually alter the texture of the soil, rendering it more re- 
tentive of dew and rain, and easily penetrated by the fibrous 
roots of plants. Of the value of those substances which 
are carried in streams of water to enrich soils, we have the 
most convincing proof in the unexampled productiveness of 
interval lands. It is not exclusively the vegetable substan- 
ces carried on to these lands which make them so astonish- 
ingly productive ; there is a portion of every kind of soil 
existing in the surrounding country annually carried on with 
the vegetable substances. Intervals are composed of every 
sort of earth the water can reach and remove. This cir- 
cumstance may properly encourage the mixtures of many 
kinds of earth, even when there is no particular evidence 
that each kind is especially adapted to remedy any deficien- 
cy in the soil which we would improve. There is less haz- 
ard in administering medicines in great profusion to cure 
diseases in the soil, than in the human body. In stepping 
out of the beaten path of habitual practice, and calling at- 
tention to experiments, which to some may look very simple, 
and to others very absurd, we may become instrumental in 
the discovery of highly important truths." 

It will not do, however, to spread pond mud directly on 
grass land or on arable ground. An experienced farmer in- 
forms us, that he once injured a piece of grass land by 
spreading pond mud upon it without preparation. It should 
be mixed with lime and warmer manure, and exposed to the 
atmosphere, or put into the barn-yard to be trodden upon 
by cattle. 

Arthur Young lays it down as a maxim, that a strong, 
harsh, tenacious clay, though it will yield great crops of 
wheat, is yet managed at so heavy expense, that it is usually 
let for more than it is worth. Much money is not made on 
such land. The very contrary soil, a light, poor, dry sand, 
is very oflen, indeed, in the occupation of men who have 
made fortunes. Some permanent manure is usually below 
the surface, which anwsers well to carry on ; and sheep, the 
common stock of such soils, is the most profitable sort he 
can depend on. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 13 

GRASSES. The limits of our plan will oblige us in this, 
as in many other articles, to omit, or give but brief sketches 
of, subjects which might be protitabiy attended to in more 
minute detail. 

Grass is a general name for plants used in feeding cattle, 
in a green or dry state, for hay or for pasture. 

It would require a large volume to describe all the kinds 
of grass which are or may be cultivated in the United 
States. Sir John Sinclair observed, ("Code of AgricuUure," 
p. 219,) that there are in all two hundred and fifteen grasses, 
properly so called, which are cultivated in Great Britain. 
The Duke of Bedford caused a series of experiments to be 
instituted by George Sinclair, to try the comparative merits 
and value of a number of these grasses, to the amount of 
ninety-seven, the result of which is annexed to Sir Humphrey 
Davy's "Agricultural Chemistry." According to these ex- 
periments, tall fescue glass (/t's/uca elatior) stands highest as 
to the quantity of nutritive matter afFordtd by the whole crop, 
when cut at the time of flowering ; and meadow cat's-tail 
grass, pldtum praknse, called in Nev/ England herd's grass, 
and timothy grass in the Southern States, affords most food 
when cut at the time the seed is ripe. 

The folhnving- remarks are from an able and elaborate 
article on the grasses, written by Judge Buel, and published 
in " The American Farmer " : 

" I have found in our publications on agriculture very lit- 
tle information on the improvement of our meadow and pas- 
ture grounds. Indeed, the names of our native grasses are 
scarcely enumerated, much less are their habits described, 
or their relative merits for hay and pasture pointed out, in 
any American work which has fallen within my notice. A 
considerable portion of our lands are unsuitable for the sys- 
tem of convertible husbandry, that is, an alternation of grain 
and grass crops. Of this description are our stiff clays, 
marshes, and swamps, and all those lands in which tillage is 
rendered difhcult by reason of hard pan, stones, or wetness. 
These should be improved as permanent meadows and pas- 
tures ; and it is of the first importance to the farmer to know 
the grasses which will render them most conducive to profit; 
for that our grass grounds are as susceptible of improvement 
as our tillage grounds, by a suitable selection of seeds and 
suitable management, must be apparent to every reflecting 
mind. The improvement and productiveness of our cattle 
and sheep husbandry, which at this time deservedly engage 
2 



14 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

much of the pubHc attention, depend materially on this 
blanch of farniing." 

After adverting to the sources from which the writer de- 
rived most of his inlormation, he proceeds : 

" Swcel-sccnled Vtrnul Grass. This is a grass of diminu- 
tive growth, and is not worth cuUivaling for hay. It is 
nevertheless considered as valuable in pasture on account of 
its aflording very early feed, and growing quick after being 
cropped. We are advised by Muhlenburg that it delights 
in moist soils; by the Bath papers, that it does well in clay- 
ey loams; and by Dickson, that it grows in almost any soil, 
including bogs and sands. G. Sinclair says, it is eaten by 
oxen, horses, and sheep, though not so freely as some other 
grasses are. * 

" Meadmv Fox Tail possesses all the advantages of early 
growth with the preceding, and is much more abundant in 
product and nutriment. It generally constitutes one of five 
or si.\ kinds which are sowed together by the Knglish far- 
mers for pasture ; and afibrds withal a tolerable crop of hay. 
It does best in moist soils, whether loams, clays, or reclaim- 
ed bogs. Sheep and horses have a better relish for it, says 
G. Sinclair, than oxen. 

" Rou^k Cock's Foot. Dr. Muhlenburg and T. Cooper 
concur in opinion that this is the orchard grass of the Uni- 
ted States. In England, cock's foot is taking the place of 
rye grass with clovers. Arthur Young speaks in high com- 
mendation of it; though all writers concur in the opinion, 
that it should be frequently and closely cropped, either with 
the scythe or cattle, to reap the full benefit of its great mer- 
its. I should prefer it to almost every other grass ; and 
cows are very fond of it. Cooper rates it above timothy, 
and says it is gradually taking the place of the latter among 
the best farmers about Philadelphia. This is probably ow- 
ing to the fact that it is earlier than timothy, and of course 
more suitable to cut with clover for hay. Its growth is early 
and rapid, after it has been cropped. It does well on loams 
and sands, and grows well in shade. 

" Colonel Powel, a gentleman who combines as much 



* .Tudge Bucl does not seem to have been personally acquainted with this 
invaliialile grass. Its proper sitnalion is high, well-draine<i iiieadovvs. It 
constitutes, in sucli meadows, in Massacliusetts, at lea.«t one half of the uliote 
crop. lis chief faull is, tiiat it is too early for the other grastes, Iml it affords 
a seconii and even tliird crop if cut early. It is tlie grass vvliicli gives tlie 
finest flavor so grateful to milch cows. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 15 

science with judicious practice, especially in cattle and grass 
husbandry, as any person in the Union, says, ' I have 
tried orchard grass for ten years. It produces more pastu- 
rage than any artificial grass I have seen in America.' Sow 
two bushels of seed to an acre. 

" Tall Oul Grass. Both Arator (Mr. Taylor) and Dr. 
Muhlenburg have placed this at the head of their lists of 
grasses, wbicli they have recommended to the attention of 
the American farmer. The latter says, it is of all others the 
earliest and best grass for green fodder and hay. The doc- 
tor was, probably, not apprized of its deficiency in nutri- 
tive matter, as indicated in the table. It possesses the ad- 
vantage of early, quick, and late growth, for which the 
cock's foot is esteemed, tillers well, and is admirably calcu- 
lated for pasture grass I measured some on the 20th of 
June, when in blossom, when it should be cut for hay, and 
found it four and a half feet long. The latter math is near- 
ly equal in weight, and superior in nutritious matter to the 
seed crop. 

" Tall Fescue, although a native grass, has not fallen under 
ray personal observation. It stands higliest, says Davy, 
accf)rding to the experiments of the Duke of]?edford, of any 
gra>;s, properly so called, as to the quantity of nutritive mat- 
ter aiforded by the whole crop, when cut at the time of 
flowering ; and meadow cat's-tail (timotliy) grass affords 
most Ibod, when cut at the time the seed is ripe. It grows 
naturally in wet grounds, in bog meadows, and on the sides 
of ditches, often to the height of tour or five feet. Our 
ignV)rance of agricultural botany, and of the intrinsic value 
of ibis glass, can ahme have prevented its being more gen- 
erally known and cultivated. It must be very valuable for 
wet grounds, as, from its rapid growth, it is calculated to 
smother or keep down the coarser kinds, which naturally 
abound in these situations. 

" Rtje Grass is extensively cultivated in Scotland and the 
north of f^ngland, and, where cock's foot has not superseded 
it, is generally mi.xed with clover seeds. It is rather declin- 
ing in public estimation. It does well in pasture; and as it 
contains much nutriment, is considered valuable for cows 
and sheep. Dickson says, it does best in rich, moist mea- 
dows. Young does not speak well of it. 

" Red Clover. Tberc are many species of the iri folium, 
and- several varieties of the red clover. Whether the kind 
we generally cultivate is the prntense, or not, I am unable to 



16 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

cletermine. The character of red clover as an ameliorating 
fertilizing crop, is too generally known to require illustra- 
tion. It cannot be depended upon for permanent grass 
lands ; though it yields to no grass for alternating with grain 
in convertible husbandry. It formerly was as indispensable 
in a course of crops in Norfolk, Kngland, (which has been 
considered preeminent for good tillage,) as turnips ; and the 
maxim was, and still is, ' no turnips, no crops.' But it ap- 
pears from Young's survey of that country, that it cannot 
now be depended on oftener than once in trom eight to 
twelve years. Trefoil, Vv-liite clover, cock's foot, rye grass, 
&c., are therefore alternated with red clover in the grass 
years. There is reason to believe, that neither red clover 
nor other grasses, will bear repeating tor a course of years, 
upon the generality of soils. They exhaust the ground of 
the peculiar nourishment required for their support. In 
Great Britain white clover, trefoil, rye grass or cock's foot, 
are generally sown with red clover seeds. From twenty to 
thirty pounds of seeds are sown to the acre. In the north- 
ern states, timothy is generally sown with clover; though the 
mixture is an improper one for hay; for the clover is fit for 
the scythe ten or tifteen days before the timothy has arrived 
to maturity. Il' sown alone, from eight to sixteen pounds 
of clover seed should be put on an acre ; more on old land 
than on new. 

" Wkile or Dutch Clover {irifulium rcpens), is considered 
in England of importance to husbandry, if we are to judge 
from tlie great quantity of seed which is there sown annual- 
ly. ^Vith us, many districts produce it spontaneously ; but 
it is too seldom sown. It shrinks greatly in drying, and 
does not contain as much nutritive matter as red clover ; yet 
its value as a pasture grass is universally admitted. Its in- 
crease is very much facilitated by a top dressing of gypsum 
lime or ashes. 

" Lucerne, although affording much more green food, con- 
tains less nutriment in a single crop than red clover. It 
must, however, be borne in mind, that it grows much quicker 
than clover, and will bear cutting twice as often. In the 
soiling system, an acre of lucerne will keep four cattle or 
horses from the 15lh of May to the 1st of October. I cut 
a piece about the loth of May, and again about the 20th of 
June, to feed green, and then ploughed the ground, and 
cropped it with ruta baga, which yielded sixteen tons to the 
acre of roots, as fine as I ever saw. Mr. Fowell (see 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 17 

Young's ' Norfolk,' p. 345) derived a clear profit of iliir- 
teen pounds scvenfecn shillings and four-pence per acre from 
his lucerne, fed green to working horses. This is almost 
equal to sixty dollars the acre. An idea has prevailed, that 
it will not thrive in this latitude, (42-3,) but the experi- 
ments of the late Chancellor Livingston, and of Le Roy do 
Chaumont, prove otherwise. I sowed seed in 1821, at the 
rate of six pounds the acre, with barley. It has stood the 
winters well, much better than clover ; and has been in a 
state of progressive improvement. Drought has not affect- 
ed it. The plants are very tender the first year ; and re- 
quire either a very clean tilth, or to be kept free from weeds 
and grass with a hoe the first year. It should have a deep 
loam, as it sends down tap roots five or six feet ; and it ia 
equally necessary that the ground should not be wet. It 
may be sown either in drills or broad-cast, with -or without 
grain. Fifteen pounds of seed are required for the acre if 
drilled, and twenty is not too much if sown broad-cast. To 
the proprietor of a dairy, an acre or two of lucerne would 
be valuable, to be fed to his cows in addition to ordinary 
pasture,* 

" Long-7'ooled Clover is a native of Hungary, and I do not 
think has ever found its way across the Atlantic. The root 
is biennial, and if sown in the fall, lasts only during the next 
season. It penetrates to a great depth in the ground, and 
consequently is but little aflectcd by drought. It therefore 
requires a deep dry soil. The product ot this grass, when 
compared to others that are allied to it in habit and place of 
growth, proves greatly superior. It affords twice the weight 
of grass, and more than double the nutritive matter that is 
given by the common clover. It gives abundance of seed ; 
and, says G. Sinclair, if the ground be kept free of weeds, 
it sows itself, vegetates, and grows rapidly, without cover- 
ing in, or any operation whatever. Four years it has prop- 
agated itself in this manner on the space of ground which it 
now occupies, and from which this statement of its compar- 
ative value is made. This species would, no doubt, prove a 
valuable acquisition to our husbandry, whether we consider 
its value for green food, hay, or as a green crop to be turn- 
ed in preparatory to grain. 

" Sui7i Foin is peculiarly adapted to a calcareous or 

* For Uirilipr rfinai ks on the culiiirc of lucerne, fee " The New England 
Farmer," Vol. IX. p. 342. 

2* 



18 THE COMPLETE FAUMER 

chalky soil. It is true it is cultivated in Norfolk, England, 
which is a soil of sand and loam, naturally destitute of cal- 
careous matter. But it is common there to dress their lands 
with clay marl, which abounds with carbonate of lime ; 
without which dressing, says Young, Norfolk soils will not 
grow sain foin. This writer considers it ' one of the most 
valuable plants that vvere ever introduced into the agricul- 
ture of Great Britain.' The well-known Mr. Coke culti- 
vates four hundred acres of this grass, and sows it without 
other seeds. Several attempts have been made to cultivate 
sain foin in this country, but hitherto I believe without suc- 
cess.* 

" Timothy. This grass is distinguished in Great Britain 
by the name of meadow caVs-tail ; in New England by that 
of herd's grass. It is one of the most valuable grasses that 
are cultivated ; and, what is worthy the notice of every 
farmer, it affords more than double the nutriment when cut 
in the seed to what it does in the flower. In tenacious, 
strong, and moist soils, it is entitled to a precedence, per- 
haps, to any single grass for hay, yet does not seem to be 
suitable to mix with clover seeds when intended for meadow. 
Another consideration, which renders it particularly worthy 
of attention, is the seed which it affords, and which may be 
saved without materially diminishing the hay crop. From 
ten to thirty bushels of seed may be taken from an acre of 
timothy, which, at the price it now bears, is of itself a hand- 
some remuneration. 

" Fiorin has of late years been brought into notice in 
Great Britain, by the experiments of Dr. Richardson ; who 
particularly recommended it for the cold boggy soils of the 
mountainous districts, where ordinary grasses would not 
thrive. The peculiar value of the florin, and of other 
grasses of the agrostis family, arises from their fltness for 
whiter pasture : as they lose very little of their bulk or nu- 
triment by remaining in the soil after they have ceased to 
grow. Its name (^creeping bent or couch grass) implies a 
difficulty in mowing it, except on a surface perfectly smooth. 

" Upright Bent Grass. Dr. Muhienburg considers this the 
herd^s grass of the southern, and the foul meadoiv of the 
eastern States, of which xuhite top and red top are varieties. 

* Sain foin may be considered as out of the question in New England. So 
large a |)ortion is winter-killed that it is not worth cuUivation. This is af 
firmed on the strength of repeated trials. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 19 

This grass is more congenial to our climate than to that of 
England. In any boggy soils, both varieties of this grass 
have come in spontaneously, as soon as the ground has been 
cleared and drained, have soon formed a compact sod, and 
afforded good hay and good pasture. 

" Flul-sUilkcd Meadow Grass. This, according to Muhlen- 
burg, is the blue grass, which is considered as a pest in 
many of our tillage grounds. The small crop which it gives, 
and the little nutritive matter which this affords, shows the 
little dependence which ought to be placed on it for grazing, 
or for hay. 

" Smooth-slalked Meadow Grass is a native plant, and is 
well adapted for permanent pastures. It grows quick after 
being cropped, and does well upon dry ground. 

" Floating Fescue grows well in swamps and bog soils, 
where good kinds are most wanted. 

" I would suggest, with much deference, whether grasses 
may not be divided, for the practical benefit of the farmer, 
into three kinds, to wit : 1. Cultivated Grasses. All kinds, 
strictly speaking, which the soil does not produce spontane- 
ously, are cultivated grasses. But the term as generally 
used, and in the sense I here employ it, applies only to such 
as are sown to aJtennate icith grain, pidse, and roots, in a 
systematic rotation of crojjs. The grasses selected for this 
purpose are, generally, the red clovers, lucerne, sain foin, 
orchard, tall oat, timothy, or rye grass. Clover is the pri- 
mary dependence on all soils which will grow- it, and espe- 
cially where gypsum can exercise its magic powers. As 
vegetables are said to exhaust the soil in proportion to the 
smallness of their leaves, (the larger the leaves the more 
nutriment they draw from the atmosphere, and the less from 
the soil,) clovers are entitled to the high commendation they 
have obtained among American farmers. But as these 
plants are liable to premature destruction by the frosts of 
winter, it is both prudent and wise to intermix with their 
seeds those of some other grasses more to be depended on. 

" For this purpose, on sands, loams, and gravels, and 
these constitute the soils usually employed in convertible 
husbandry, the orchard grass or tall meadow oat grass ap- 
pear to be best calculated to insure profit. They grow 
early, delight in a clover sod, and are fit for the scythe 
when clover is in the bloom, the time it ought to be cut. The 
hay from this mixture may be made before harvest commen- 
ces ; and if the soil is good, a second crop may be cut al- 



20 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

most equal to the first. If intended for pasture the second 
year, either of these grasses will afford more abundant food 
than timothy. 

" III clays, the meadow fox tail, an excellent grass, might 
be substituted, though, according to Sinclair, the tall oat 
grass will do well here also. In ivel soils, where clovers do 
not grow well, timothy and meadow reed grass would be a 
good selection, sown either separate or together. 

"Lucerne and sain foin require a deep dry soil, and are 
generally sown without other seeds. The first does not at- 
tain to perfection before the third year ; and both, where 
successfully cultivated, are permitted to occupy the ground 
from six to eight years. 

"2. Meadow Grasses. In selecting these the object is 
to obtain the greatest burden of good hay, and to mix those 
kinds which may be profitably cut at the same time. 

" For clayey and moist soils, many valuable and nutritious 
kinds seem to be well adapted ; that is to say, meadow fox 
tail, timothy, tall oat, meadow soft grass, floating fescue, 
rye grass, reed meadow, smooth-stalked meadow, American 
cock's foot, upright bent or herd's grass, and tall fescue. 
And the five last are peculiarly suited to swamp or bog soils. 
For dry loams, sands, and oruvels, which never ought to be 
kept long in grass, the cock's foot or orchard grass, and tall 
oat, are probably the best ; and to these might be added red 
and white clover. 

" The great difficulty is to prevent the deterioration of 
meadows. This takes place from the better grasses running 
out, and giving place to coarser kinds, in moss, and to use- 
less or noxious plants, aided often by a neglect to keep them 
well drained. The finer and more nutritious kinds thrive 
best in moist, though they will not live long in ^let soils. 
Hence it is of the first importance to keep the surface soil 
free from standing water, by good and sufficient ditches ; 
and it often becomes necessary, and it is in most cases 
advisable, on a flat surface, to lay the land in ridges at 
right angles with the drains. Another precaution to be 
observed is, not to feed them with stock when the soil is 
wet and poachy. Harrowing in the fall has been found 
beneficial to meadows. It destroys mosses, and covers the 
seeds of grasses which have fallen, or may be sown, and 
thus produces a continued succession of young plants. In 
Europe, lime is used witii good effect as a top dressing to 
grass lands, as are also ashes. With us, the annual appli- 



A.VD RLRAL ECONOMIST. 21 

cation of a hushel of gypsum to the acre is found beneScial. 
It not only thickens the verdure with clover, but is of ad- 
vantage in most other grasses. Stable manure should be 
used only when it can be spared from the more profitable 
uses of tillage. When the means above enumerated fail to 
insure a good crop of hay, it is time to resort to the plough, 
and a course of crops. 

"3. Pasture Grasses. But few of the grasses most valu- 
ed in Great Britain for pasture are the natural growth of the 
United States ; but it is believed that if the seeds are once 
introduced upon our farms, we shall find little difiSculty in 
naturalizing them. Neither the orchard nor vernal grass, 
which are said to be indigenous to our country, are recog- 
nised in the grass lands which have come within my ob- 
servation : yet they constitute, with fox tail and tall oat 
grass, the earliest and most valuable varieties for perennial 
pastures. The meadow fox tail and orchard grass, together 
Avith our white clover and green meadow grass, poa trivi- 
alis, (which seldom require to be sown,) I think would form 
the best selection for all grounds which are moderately dry. 
The rye and oat grasses, or meadow soft grass, might be 
either substituted for the two first, or combined with them. 
These would afford spring, summer, and fall feed, abundant 
in quantity and wholesome and nutritious in quality. On 
wet soils, (though pastures require to be drained, as well as 
meadows, to insure a rich herbage,) the tall fescue, smooth- 
stalked meadow, upright bent, and herd's grass, may be in- 
troduced to advantage. Gypsum is applied to p^astures with 
the same benefit that it is to meadows." 

Two able papers, " On Grasses," have been written by 
the Hon. John Welles, for "The IVFassachusetts Agricul- 
tural Repository." One of these, republished in "The New 
P^ngland Farmer," (Vol.1, page 235,) contains the following 
observations on the loss of weight of certain grasses, by 
evaporation, " in the process of drying or making, for safe 
and useful preservation." 

It should be premised that the time of cutting the several 
grasses, &c., in the following statement, was the same as is 
usually practised by husbandmen in this State. 

"Of 100 lbs. of vegetables, cured in 1822, the product was as follows, 
viz. : 

100 lbs. of green white clover gave of hay 17*^ lbs. 

100 " of red do, " 27i " 

100 " of herd's grass " 40 " 

100 " of fresh me;idow " 38 '< 



22 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

100 Il)s. of salt <Tr;\ss gave of liay 39 lbs 

100 " of mixed 2(1 rrop, Ei)glisli rowen " ISi " 

100 " of C(ini stiilks " 25 " 

100 " of do. cut in tliemilk wiili the ear " 25 " 

" It is lo be ol)sei-ved, that tiie weight will vary from ripeness, and many 
Other causes, sucii as wetness of season, shade, thickness of growth, &c." 

In a subsequent number of "The Massachusetts Agricul- 
tural Repository," was published another elaborate com- 
munication from the same pen, from which the following 
table is extracted. 



Table showini; the loss of weig 


■ht ill drying grasses. 








1822. 


1823. 


100 lbs. 


, of green white clover* 


gave 17i 


27 


100 " 


of redt clover 


27i 


25 


100 " 


of herd's grass 


40 


39 


100 " 


of fresh meadow 


38 


44 


100 " 


of salt grasst 


39 


60 


100 " 


of 2(1 crop, or English rowen " ISj 


19 


100 " 


of corn stalks 


25 


25 


100 " 


of spiked oat grass 




50 


100 " 


of retl top 




46 


lOD « 


of Rhode Island 




40 


100 " 


of couch grass 




43 


100 " 


of marine black grass 




38 



On Sowing Grass Seeds. A diversity of opinion exists 
relative to the best time for sowing grass seeds. Some pre- 
fer tlje fall ; but the majority of those who have written on 
the subject, recommend sowing in the spring; and that sea- 
son, so far as our acquaintance extends, is most generally 
chosen. European writers direct, even when grass seed is 
sown on the same ground with winter grain, to sow the grass 
seed in the spring, and harrow it in. They say that the har- 
rowing will on the whole be of service to the grain, though a 
few of the plants will be torn up by the process. The Hon. 
Richard Peters likewise directed to " harrow your winter 
grain in the spring, in the direction of the seed furrows, or 
drills, and be not afraid of disturbing a few plants; manifold 
produce will" remunerate for the destroyed." 

"The Farmer's Assistant" says, " Clover may be sown 
with barley, oats, or spring wheat, when that article is rais- 



* The white clover of 1822 was taken in the shade ; that in 1823, from a 
light warm soil exposed to the sun. 

t The red clover in 1S2S was taken in the first year of its product, in close 
growth, and for that reason falls short of 1822. 

4: The salt grass of 1822 was, 1 have re;ison to suppose, a second growth, 
which accounts for the difierence of the two years. 

If enabled, ex|)eriinents will in these cases be hereafter given, so as to fix 
ijie result with sufficient accuracy, 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 23 

ed; or it may be sown with winter wheat in the fall, if 
the land be dry and warmly exposed; or in the spring, when 
it should be lightly harrowed in." The "Domestic Encyclo- 
pedia" asserts, that " experienced farmers generally prefer 
sowing clover with wheat rather than with barley or oafs, as 
in dry seasons the clover frequently overpowers the oats or 
barley, and if it be sown late in order to obviate this evil, it 
often fails, and the crop is lost tor that season. Probably 
the diversity of opinion respecting the proper time of sowing 
clover seed may arise from the difference in the nature of 
the soil on which trials have been made. An experienced 
agriculturist, (Edward Dutiield, Esq., of Philadelphia coun- 
ty,) assures Dr. Mease, that he repeatedly failed in obtaining 
a crop, when he sowed his clover in autumn or winter; and 
he is uniformly successful when he sows in the spring. His 
soil is a light loam." 

. On the other hand, an experienced and scientific cultiva- 
tor, whose suggestions on this subject were published in 
"The New England Farmer," (Vol. VI. p. L'SS,) dated Wes- 
ton, and signed J. M. G., says; " Dear-bought experience 
has taught me the inefficacy of sowing grass seed in spring 
with grain; it was a custom imported wilh the ancestors of 
the country tVom Old England, where the cloudy sununers 
and moist climate will warrant a practice which, under our 
clear sky and powerful sun, is altogether unsuitable. I 
must add, that grass sown in the tall imperioiisly requires to 
be rolled in the spring, as soon as the ground is in tit order; 
otherwise the small plants, slightly rooted yet, and heaved 
up by the frost, will suffer much, perhaps total destruction ; 
and truly, among the many uses to which the roller may be 
applied, none, perhaps, would be more valuable than to roll 
all grass lands in spring. The plants suffer from the wind 
and from the heat, and this being the case more or less every 
spring, it must necessarily bring on a premature decay, which 
the yearly use of the roller at that season might prevent." 
~ We cannot reconcile these authorities; but it is probable 
that both in fall and spring sowing of grass seeds, there may 
be successful and unfavorable results, according to circum- 
stances of soil, season, 8tc. Fall sown grass seeds are lia- 
ble to be winter-killed, or destroyed by frost ; spring sown 
grass seeds may perish by drought and heat. But, when- 
ever sown, there will be less danger either from frost or 
drought, if the seed is well covered with a harrow, and the 
ground pressed on it with a roller. 



24 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

Young's "Fanner's Calendar," under the date of August, 
says, " This is the host season of the whole year for laying 
down land to grass; and no other is admissible for it on 
strong, wet, or heavy soils. Spring sowings with grain may 
succeed, and do often, but that they are hazardous I know 
from forty years' experience." 

There is likewise a great difference of opinion as respects 
the quantibj of seed to be sown when land is laid down to 
grass. Sir John Sinclair says, " It is a great error, in laying 
land down to grass, to sow an insuflicient quantity of seeds. 
In general, twelve or fourteen pounds of clover is the usual 
average allowance. But that quantity, it is contended, 
ought greatly to be increased, and in many cases doubled." 
" The Farmer's Assistant" tells us, that "the quantity of 
red clover seed to be sown on the acre is about fourteen 
pounds, and none but clean seed ought to be sown." 

The " Memoirs of the Board of Agriculture of the State 
of New York," (Vol. II. p. 30,) in giving an account of the 
methods of culture adopted by farmers in Rensselaer coun- 
ty, state, that " Farmers differ in opinion in regard to the 
most suitable quantity of seed. S. Germond, H. VVorthing- 
ton, C. Porter, C. R. Golden, and some others, say that 
eight quarts of the mixture of clover and timothy seed 
should be sown on every acre. And colonel J. Carpenter 
sows sixteen quarts on an acre. He says, when the grass 
and clover grow very thick, it will be more tender feed, and 
more fine hay, and that it will not run out so soon. But J. 
Phillips, G. Eddy, and many others, consider four quarts as 
sufficient. 

"All agree that the proportions of the mixture of the 
seeds should be governed by the nature of the soil : that in 
a sandy soil three-fourths of the seed should be clover; in 
clay loam it should be equal parts ; in clay soil but one 
fourth clover seed. 

" There should be at least a bushel of plaster sown on 
every acre of clover and grass land of a sandy, gravelly, or 
loamy soil. Also on all upland natural meadows. Two 
bushels per acre are much better than one on sandy or 
gravelly soil." 

Payson Williams, Esq., of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, 
who received a premium iVom the Massachusetts Agricul- 
tural Society for the greatest quantity of spring wheat, rais- 
ed by him in the summer of 1822, in giving a description 
of the mode of culture by him adopted, says, "The quan- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 25 

tity of grass seed used by me is never less than twelve 
pounds of clover and one peck of herd's grass (timothy) to 
the acre. Here, permit me to observe, that innumerable 
are the instances in this country where tlie i'armer fails in 
hisgrass crops by not allowing seed enough ; and, what is 
wor.-ie, the little he does give with a sparing hand is suffered 
to take its chance under that pest of agriculture called the . 
bush harrow, which not only drags stones and other loose 
matters into heaps, but leaves the soil dead and heavy, and 
does not cover the seed deep enough to strive with our July 
drought ellectuaily." 

We have, however, been verbally assured, by very cor- 
rect and scientific agriculturists, that six or seven pounds of 
clover seed, where Ike ground is highly manured, is amply 
sufficient, and that by exceeding that quantity the plants so 
shade and stifle each othel* that there is little substance in 
the hay made from them. No doubt much depends on the 
quality and richness of the soil. The poorer the soil the 
greater the quantity of grass seed. Clover seed of a bright 
yellow, with a good quantity of the purple and brown color- 
ed seed among it, (which shows the maturity of the seed,) 
should be preferred. 



GRAIN. Grain, strictly speaking, signifies seeds, grow- 
ing in spikes or ears, and includes wheat, rye, barley, oats, 
&.C. Of the culture of these we shall treat under those heads, 
respectively. ^Ve shall here give some directions for im- 
proving grain of any sort which has become musty, or sour. 

" The wheat [or other grain] must be put into any con- 
venient vessel, capable of containing at least three times the 
quantify, and the vessel must be subsequently filled with 
boiling water; the grain should then be occasionally stirred, 
and the hollow and decayed grains (which will float) may 
be removed; when the water has become cold, or, in gener- 
al, when about half an hour has elapsed, it is to be drawn 
off". It will be proper then to rinse the corn [grain] with 
cold water, in order to remove any portion of the water 
which had taken up the must; after which, the corn being 
completely drained, it is, without loss of time, to be thinly 
spread on the floor of a kiln, and thoroughly dried, care 
being taken to stir and to turn it frequently during this part 
of the process." — Code of Jigricidture. 

Indian Coim. Indian corn, or maize, as it is sometimes 
3 



26 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

called, is a very important crop. The celebrated English 
agriculturist, Arthur Young, in speaking of the agriculture 
ot France, observed, " The line of, maize [cornj may be 
said to be tlie division between the good husbandry of tlie 
south and the bad husbandry of the north of the kingdom ; 
till you meet with maize, very rich soils are fallowed, but 
never after. Perhaps it is the most important plant t'nat 
can be introduced into the agriculture ot any country, where 
climate will suit it. The only good husbandry in the king- 
dom (some small rich districts excepted) arises from the 
possession and management of this |)lant. For the inhabit- 
ants of a country to live upon that plant, which is the pre- 
paration for wheat, and at the same time keep their cattle 
fat upon the leaves of it, is to possess a treasure for which 
they are indebted to their climate." The perfect tillage and 
plentilul manuring requisite for Indian corn make it an ex- 
cellent substitute for a summer fallow; it is a crop not liable 
to be injured by too much or too coarse manure; it not only 
enables, but, as it were, forces the farmer in the course of 
its culture to subdue his land and exterminate weeds. 

Soil. A light loomy soil is best for this crop, and even if 
sand greatly predominates it will produce good corn with the 
help of manure. Corn will not flourish on l"nds in which 
clay is the chief ingredient, and which are therefore stiff 
and wet. 

Preparation. " The best preparation for a corn crop is a 
clover or other grass lay, well covered with a long manure, 
recently spread, neatly ploughed, and harrowed lengthwise 
of the furrow. A roller may precede the harrow with ad- 
vantage. The time of performing these operations depends 
on the texture of the soil and the quality of the sod. If 
the tirst is inclining to clay, or the latter tough, or of long 
continuance, the ploughing may be perf"ormed the preceding 
autumn; but where sand or gravel greatly preponderate, or 
the sod is light and tender, it is best performed in the 
spring, and as near to planting as is convenient. The har- 
row, at least, should immediately precede planting. All 
seeds do best when put info the fresh stirred mould. Stiff 
lands are ameliorated and broken down by fall ploughing ; 
but liiiht lands are rather prejudiced by it. When corn is 
preceded by a tilled crop, the ground should be furrowed, 
and the seed dejjosited in the bottom of the furrows. Where 
there is a sod, the rows should be superficially marked, and 
the seed planted on the surface. Where the field is flat, or 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 27 

the sub-soil retentive of moisture, the land should be laid 
in ridi»es, tiiat the excess oi" water which falls may pass off 
in the i'urrows. 

" The time of planting; must vary in dilferent districts, 
and in ditiorent seasons. The ground should be sutliciently 
warmed by vernal heat, to cause a speedy germination. 
Natural vegetation affords the best guide. My rule has 
been to plant when the apple is bursting its blossom buds, 
which has generally been between the lith and 20th of 
May. 

' Preparalion of the seed. The enemies to be combated 
are the wire-worm, brown grub, birds, and squirrels. Of 
these, the first and two last prey upon the kernels, and 
against these tar offers a complete protection. I soak my 
seed twelve to twenty hours in hot water, in which is dis- 
solved a tew ounces of crude saltpetre, and then add (say 
to eight quarts of seed) half a pint of tar, previously warmed, 
and diluted with a quart of warm water. The mass is well 
stirred, the corn taken out, and as much plaster added as 
will adhere to the grain. This impregnates and partially 
coats the seed with tar. The experience of years will war- 
rant me in confidently recommending this as a protection for 
the seed. 

" The manner of planling is ordinarily in hills from two 
and a half to six feet apart, according to the variety of corn, 
tiie strength of the soil, and the fancy of the cultivator. 
Tiie usual distance in my neighbourhood is three f<et. 
Some, however, plant in drills ot' one, two, or three rows, 
by which a greater crop is unquestionably obtained, though 
the expense of culture is somewhat increased. Tiie quan- 
tity of seed should be double, and may be quadruple* what 
is required to stand. It is well known that a great differ- 
ence is manifest in the appearance of the plants. Some 
appear feeble and sickly, which the best nursing will not 
render productive. The expense of seed, and the labor of 
pulling up all but three or four of the strongest plants in a. 
hill, it is believed will be amply remunerated by the increas- 
ed product. If the seed is covered as it should be with 
mould only, and not too deep, we may at least calculate 
upon every hill or drill having its requisite number of plants. 



* Mt^ssrs. Pnilt.'S, of Wadison roiinty, New York, tiljlaiiied tlie |)rofii<5M)U3 
cro() (if out- hiinilrp<J nnd spvpMly l)"shel.-i ppr aoip, and used fovcii I)ii.s|icIs of 
seed lo llic acre, llip plants being ^ubseqiicnily reduced to tlie ix-quisile iiuiiiljer. 



23 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

" The after cnlture consists in keeping the soil loose and 
free from weeds, which is ordinarily accomplished by two 
dressings, and in thinning the plants, which latter may be 
done the first hoeing, or partially omitted till the last. The 
practice of ploughing among corn and of making large hills 
is justly getting into disrepute; for the plough bruises and 
cuts the roots of the plants, turns up the sod and manure to 
waste, and renders the crop more lial)le to suffer by drought. 
The first dressing should be performed as soon as the size 
of: plants will permit, and the best implement to precede the 
hoe is the corn harrow, adapted to the width of the rows, 
which every farmer can make. This will destroy most of 
the weeds, and pulverize the soil. The second hoeing 
should be performed before or as soon as the tassels appear, 
and may be preceded by the corn harrow, a shallow furrow 
with the plough, or, what is better than either, by the cul- 
tivator. A slight earthing is beneficial, provided the earth 
is scraped from the surface, and the sod and manure not ex- 
posed. It will bo found beneficial to run the harrow or cul- 
tivator a third, and even a fV)urth time between the rows, to 
destroy weeds and loosen the surface, particularly if the 
season is dry. 

" /n harvesting the crop, one of three modes is adopted, 
viz. : I. The corn is cut at the surface of the ground when 
the grain has become glazed or hard upon the outside, put 
immediately in stocks, and when snfliciently dried the corn 
and stalks are scjiarjited, and both secured. 2. The tops 
are taken off when the corn has become glazed, and the 
grain permitted to remain till October or November upon the 
butts. Or, 3. Both corn and stalks are left standing till the 
grain has fully ripened and the latter become dry, when both 
are secured. There are other modes, such as leaving the 
i)utts or entire stalks in the field after the grain is gathered ; 
but these are so wasteful and slovenly as not to merit con- 
sideration. The stalks, blades, and tops of corn, if well 
secured, are an excellent fodder for neat cattle. If cut, or 
cut and steamed, so that they can be readily masticated, 
they are superior to hay. Besides, their fertilizing proper- 
ties as a manure are greatly augmented by being fed out in 
the cattle yard and imbibing the urine and liquids which al- 
ways there abound, and which are lost to the farm in ordi- 
nary yards, without abundance of dry litter to take them up. 
By the first of these methods, the crop may be secured be- 
fore the autumnal rains ; the value of the fodder is increas- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST^ 29 

cd, and the ground is clorired in time for a winter crop of 
wheat or rye. The second mode impairs the value of the 
forage, requires more labor, and does not increase the quan- 
tity or improve the quality of the grain. The third mode 
requires the same labor as the first, may improve the quality 
of the grain, but must inevitably deteriorate the quality of 
the fodder. The corn cannot be husked too promptly after 
it is gathered from (he field. If permitted to heat, the value 
of the grain is materially impaired." 

To the above directions (which are quoted from an excel- 
lent article written by J. Buel, Esq., of Albany, originally 
published in " 'J'he Genesee Farmer,") we shall add some 
further particulars from various sources. 

A writer for Goodsell's " Genesee Farmer," with the 
signature W. P. W., recommends wetting seed corn with 
soil soap, and rolling it in plaster, and gives the details of 
an experiment which tested the utility of this practice. 

William Clark, Jun., of Northampton, Massachusetts, 
published an article on the culture of corn in "The New 
Kngland Farmer," (Vol. XI. p. 3.37,) giving in detail a num- 
ber of experiments, which favored the opinion that an equal 
distance each way is the best method of planting corn ; and 
that on soil "similar to what I have described, [a sandy 
loam somewhat exhausted by neglect and severe cropping, 
manured with about twenty cart loads of compost to the 
acre,] about nine square feet of surface is sufficient ground 
for one hill." That is, the hills were three feet apart each 
way from centre to centre ; but he does not state how many 
kernels were |)lanted, nor how many plants were suflered to 
remain in a hill. 

It has often been stated that great advantage was derived 
from selecting seed corn from stalks which h;id borne (wo or 
more ears. " The Haiupshire Gazette," published at Nmth- 
ampton, ?vlassachusetts, mentions a farmer who " has select- 
ed his seed corn in this way for three years past, and the re- 
sult has exceeded his expectation. He states, that it is not 
uncommon to find in his corn-field this season [1831], stalks 
with three, four, five, and sometimes six ears, and three of 
them fair, full grown, and fit for seed, and that too in hills 
containing four or five stalks." lie says, " 1 think my crop 
has been increased several bushels this year by the experi- 
ment. I would suggest a mode of selecting seed to those 
who do not cut up the corn at the roots. When they are 
picking corn, and find a stalk with two or more ears, let 
3* 



so THE COMPLETE FARMER 

them tie the husks together, and the ears will be easily 
known at husking." 

A solution of copperas in water has been recommended 
as forming a good preparation for seed corn, Mr. J. Ells- 
worth, of Ketch Mills, Connecticut, in a communication 
published in "The New England Farmer," (Vol. X. p. 
331,) stated as follows : 

" Last year I soaked our seed corn in very strong copper- 
as water, as near as I can recollect from twenty-four to 
thirty-six hours ; every kernel was made as black as char- 
coal ; the man who planted the corn called me a fool, and 
said it would never vegetate. But every hill planted came 
up well, and during its growth excited the remarks of all 
who saw it, as being the most even field of corn they ever 
saw. Not one hill in the whole seven acres was injured by 
worms ; and we had often in previous years been compelled 
to replant several times, when it had been cut down by the 
worms. We had over sixty bushels to the acre." Copper- 
as water will not preserve corn against the cul-ivorm, which 
eats off the young plants at or just below the surface of the 
ground. It has been often asserted, (but we have not 
known it tested by experiment,) that the kernels of corn 
from the but-ends of the ears are better for seed than those 
from any other part of the ear. It is said that the nearer 
the seed is taken from the largest end, the larger the pro- 
duct. Others recommend to reject some part of both ends, 
and plant only seeds taken from the middle. Further exper- 
iments are desirable to ascertain tliese points. 

" The following table," says Judge Buel, "exhibits the 
difference in product of various methods of planting, and 
serves also to explain the manner in which large crops of 
this grain have been obtained. I have assumed in the esti- 
mate that each stock produces one ear of corn, and that the 
ears average one gill of shelled grain. This is estimating 
the product low; for, while I am penning this, (October,) I 
find that my largest ears give two gills, and one hundred 
fair ears half a bushel of shelled corn. The calculation is 
also predicated on the supposition that there is no deficiency 
in the number of stocks, a contingency pretty sure on my 
method of planting.* 



* Planting an extra number of plants and tliinning thera at the first or sec- 
ond hoeing. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 31 

hills. bush. qts. 

1. An acre in hills four feet apart each way will 

produce 2722 42 16 

2. The same, three feet bv three 4840 75 20 

3. The same, tuu hy two'and a half feet 5Sa8 93 28 

4. Tlic same, in drills at three feet, stalks. 

plants six inches apart iji the drills 29,040 113 14 

5. The same in do., two rows in a drill, 

six inches apart, and the plants 
nine inches, and three feet nine 
inches fruni centre of drills, thus : 



6. The same in do., three rows in a drill, 
as above, three feet from centres 
of drills, thus : 



30,970 120 31 



43,5C0 170 



"The fifth mode I have tried. The ground was highly 
manured, the crop twice cleaned, and the entire acre gather- 
ed and weighed accurately the same day. The product in 
ears was one hundred and three bushels, each eighty-four 
pounds net, and sixty-five pounds over. The last bushel 
was shelled and measured, which showed a product on the 
acre of one hundred and eighteen bushels ten quarts. I 
gathered at the rate of more than one hundred bushels to 
the acre from four rods planted in the third method, last 
summer, the result ascertained in the most accurate man- 
ner. Corn shrinks abont twenty per cent, after it is crib- 
bed. The sixth mode is the one by which the Messrs, 
Pratts, of Madison County, obtained the prodigious crop of 
one hundred and seventy bushels per acre. These gentle- 
men, I am told, are of opinion, that the product of an acre 
may be increased to two hundred bushels." 

We believe that nearly all the large and premium crops 
■which have been noted in the annals of agriculture, were 
procured by planting the corn in drills, either single, doul)le, 
or treble. There has, however, been a difference in opinion 
relative to planting corn in ridges or on a flat surface. 
This, we think, depends on the nature of the soil. A 
loamy soil, or such as is proper for corn, ought, in our 
climate, to be cultivated in a flat way, that it may the better 
retain moisture. Dr. Black, of Delaware, advises to plant 
corn in such a manner that the rows may run directly north 
and south. General Hull, of Newton, Massachusetts, in 
cultivating a premium crop of corn, "drew furrows north 



32 THE COMrLETE FARMER 

mid south three and a half feet apart. No ridges were form- 
ed. Hills were then made with (he hoc in those furrows 
two feet apart, not Jlut, but cUscending to the sovlli, uilli a 
small bank on llie. north side of each kill, for the purpose of 
giving the youny plants a i'airer exposure to the sun." 

Wiien corn is planted on grecnswaid land, the holes for 
the hills or drills should be made (juite through the lurrows, 
and dung put into the holes. If this caution be not observ- 
ed the crop will be uneven, as the roots in some places, 
where the lurrows are thickest, will have but little benefit 
from the rotting of the sward. But if the holes are made 
through, the roots will be led with both fi.\ed and putrid air, 
supplied by the fermentation in the grass roots of the turf.* 

Some entertain an idea, that it is injurious to stir the soil 
when it is dry and the plants are suliering for want of rain. 
The error of this supposition is well exposed, in an article 
written by the Hon. J. Lowell, headed, " Stirring the Earth 
a Relief a<iainst l>)-o?/o/(/," published in " The Massachusetts 
Agricultural Repository." 'Jhe following is an extract : 

"in this extraordinary [very dry] season, I had a small 
patch of early potatoes, planted in a warm and sandy soil, 
purposely to procure an early crop ; the soil was, at least, 
three-quarters pure sand, mixed with some food for plants 
among the sand. The severe drought threatened a total loi^s 
of the crop. The potato stalks were ("eeble, drawn up, 
scarcely larger than goose quills, and I expected every day 
to see them wither; all hopes of a crop were abandoned. I 
thouglit that they were the iair subjects of a desperate expe- 
riment. On one of the hottest and driest days, I gave them 
a thorough ploughing, passing the plough i'our times through 
each row; first ploughing two furrows from the hills, as 
near the roots as possible without throwing out the seed po- 
tatoes, and then returning the loam or earth instantly back 
by two other furrows. No rain intervened for ten days. In 
three days after, the potatoes changed their color, they 
started afresh as if they had received the benefit of ample 
showers, while not a drop of rain had fallen. 

"The dews, which were abundant, settled upon the new 
turned earth, while before the ploughing no moisture had 
been apparent. 

"The last fact, though it cannot have escaped the notice 
of the most careless cultivator, has not been as yet explain- 
ed. We can easily see, that a soil rendered porous would 

* Deaiie's New Eii"lan<l I'^ariiier. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 33 

more readily and easily convey its moisture to the roots. It 
becomes like a sponge, and is readily permeable, or rather 
readily permits the moisture to pass between the particles. 
But it is not yet understood why it attracts the moisture. 
Perhaps, however, it may be owing to its presenting a much 
greater surface to the moist air of the night. The fact, 
however, which is what most conccr7is us, is settled. Perhaps 
some of the experiments of our distinguished countryman 
Dr. Wells, a physician of London, who rendered himself 
distinguished by his remarks on dew, may tend to explain 
this fact, though it is not my purpose to examine the 
theory. 

"Every man who feels an interest in the question, can 
satisfy himself at once by stirring a small piece of earth in 
a time of severe drought, and if he does not hnd it in the 
morning more filled with moisture than the undisturbed 
ground in its vicinity, let him continue an unbeliever. 

" But there is another mode, and it is one which I have 
never heard suggested, by which I apprehend the stirring ot 
the surface, and making it light and porous, is beneficial in 
great droughts. It is this : light porous bodies are bad con- 
ductors of heat: perhaps because they have more air be- 
tween tlieir interstices. The facts are familiar to us. Me- 
tallic bodies acquire an intense heat under the rays of the 
sun; so do stones in proportion to their density. The earth, 
■when very compact, will become exceedingly hot, but 
garden loam, which is very porous, remains cool at noonday 
two inches below the surface. I believe, therefore, that 
moving the surface, and keeping it in a light and porous 
state enables it to resi fit the heat oj the sun's rays ; that the 
air between the particles of earth communicates the heat 
more slowly than the particles themselves do when in close 
contact. 

" Such is my theory, but I am an enemy to theories. I 
always distrust them; I look only to facts; and having ob-. 
served that a slight covering of half an inch of seaweed 
would preserve my strawberries from drought, which can 
only arise from its lying so loose on the surface, I have been 
led to infer that the undoubted fact, that soil in a loose pul- 
verized state resists drought, is owing to the same cause, to 
wit, the slowness with which the heat of the solar rays is 
communicated to the roots. But, be the Llieory sound or 
unsound, I am persuaded that every farmer will find tiiat the 
free use of his plough and hoe, in times of severe droughty will 



34 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

be of more value to him than as much manure as that labor 
would purchase. I have always been convinced, from my 
experience as an horticulturist, that the g.reat secret in culti- 
vation consists in making the soil porous. In raising exotic 
plants we know it to he true, and our flower-pots are always 
supplied with soil the most porous which we can obtain. 
Tlie farmer may borrow light irom an occupation which he 
looks upon with disdain, but which serves to elucidate and 
explain the secrets of vegetation." 

Corn is sometimes prolitably planted or sown for fodder. 
In an " Address to the Essex Agricultural Society," by the 
late Colonel Pickering, we find the following remarks : 

" Every farmer knows how eagerly cattle devour the en- 
tire plant of Indian corn in its green state; and land in good 
condition will produce heavy crops of it. Some years ag^o, 
just when the ears were in the milk, I cut close to the 
ground the plants growing on a measured space, equal as 
I judged to the average product of the whole piece; and 
found that, at the same rate, an acre would yield twelve tons 
of green fodder; probably a richer an.l more nourishing 
food than any other known to the husbandman. And this 
quantity was the growth of less than four months." ***** 
" It has appeared to me that the sort called sweet corn, 
yields stalks of richer juice than the common yellow corn. It 
is also more disposed to multiply suckers, an additional re- 
commendation to it, when planted to be cut in a green state 
for horses and cattle, and especially for milch cows ; and 
the time of planting may be so regulated as to furnish sup- 
plies of food just when the pastures usually fail. I am 
inclined to doubt whether any other green food will afford 
butter of equal excellence." 

Colonel Pickering recommended planting northern corn 
in preference to southern corn, when fodder is the object. 
He observed, that " the green stalks of our northern corn 
are incomparably sweeter than those of the southern States, 
at least when both sorts are grown in the north." 

Corn intended for fodder may be sowed either broad-cast 
or in drills. The former is the least trouble, the latter will 
give the greatest produce, and leave the soil in the best 
order. 

If the land on which you propose to raise your corn is 
mowing or pasture, fresh ploughed for the purpose, broad- 
cast sowing will be best, as the sod alter being turned over 
should not be disturbed, and there will not, probably, be 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 35 

much to apprehend from weeds. If you sow broad-cast, 
froru three to three and a half hushels to an acre are recom- 
mended, though some say that a larger quantity will be still 
better. If in drills, you will run light furrows about three feet 
asunder, three or lijur inches derp, and drop the seed corn 
in the iurrows, about as thick as peas are sown for field 
cultivation. The seed may be covered with the plough ; and 
a harrow drawn lengthwise of the furrows, followed by a 
roller, (if you have one,) or perhaps your harrow turned 
bottom upwards, for want of a roller, will complete the 
planting. If you mean to dry it for winter use, it will be 
advisable to sow early in the season, for it will then be fit to 
cut at a time when it can be most easily cincd ibr preserva- 
tion in your barn, or other receptacle for fodder. 

The following remarks on the culture of corn, are from the 
pen of the Rev. Wr. Colman, of Greenfield, Massachusetts, 
one of our best practical and scientific farmers. 

" In the cultivation of this crop, it is in the first place 
important to secure an early kind, as the best security 
against backward springs and early frosts. A field of corn 
in Lexington, planted on the 2ist of June, belonging to Mr. 
Daniel Chandler, yielded an ample crop, and was perfectly 
ripened. The seed was of the twelve rowed kind, much es- 
teemed there, and easily procured. The kernel is small, 
but it yields as much to the acre, and weighs more to the 
bushel, than the eight rowed kind, with a larger kernel. 
!Now a kind of this description, which will ripen in nine or 
ten weeks, in so unpropitious a season as the last, when 
there were few warm nights, which are generally considered 
most important to the forwarding of this crop, is certainly a 
great acquisition. It will be well to remark here, that it is 
not only impiutant to procure an early kind, but it will re- 
quire particular attention to keep it so. Plants, like animals, 
have a constant tendenc}' to become accommodated to the 
place and season in which they grow. Indian corn brought 
irom.the north to the south will become later and require a 
longer season for its ripenmg, unless particular care is 
taken in the selection of the earliest ripe ears lor planting; 
which is, that high manuring has a tendency, by rendering 
the growth of a plant mc>re luxuriant and succulent, to retard 
its ripening and to lengthen its season. 

" We are satisfied from long observation and experiment 
that an early planting of corn is generally and stnmgly to 
be recommended. The last season, it is true, formed an 



36 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

exception to this rule ; but it was a rare case. Now, a kind 
of corn which by early planting and consequently early 
ripening gives an opportunity of laying down the same 
ground seasonably with winter grain and clover ; or which, 
where the first plantings will afford us the prospect of a full 
crop, when the vacancies are not supplied or the planting 
cannot take place until after the middle of June, certainly 
is a great object to farmers. 

" The kind of land best suited to this crop, I am satisfied, 
is greensward, completely inverted, rolled, and so culti- 
vated as not during the whole season to disturb or break the 
sod which has been turned over. This is a point of great 
importance; for the decomposition of the vegetable matter 
in the ground, which is effectually secured in this way, but 
entirely lost by the common mode of cultivation, will great- 
ly contribute to the nutriment and vigor of the plant, supply- 
ing in fact an amount of manure greatly beyond what any 
conjectures would have made it, had not an exact experi- 
ment determined that in ordinary cases it may be rated over 
twelve tons of vegetable matter to the acre. 

" In the next place we protest against the practice of very 
deep ploughing tor this crop, and that of burying the ma- 
nure deeply under the sod. The depth of ploughing may 
be in some measure regulated by the nature of the soil ; but 
three or four inches in sward land may be regarded as am- 
ple ; and not so much as this, where this would carry you 
below the vegetable mould. All circumstances considered, 
I am satisfied that it is most eligible to spread the manure 
upon the surface, ploughing it in with a very light plough 
and harrow ; and though something may be lost in this way 
by evaporation, yet not so much as burying it under the sod; 
and the land is left in much better condition for the next 
crops where the manure is thus spread, than where it is 
placed in the hill ; nor is the corn so like to suffer from the 
drought, and the saving is considerable." 



NEAT CATTLE. Neat cattle form a very important 
part of every farmer's live stock. In selecting them, two 
things are very material : first, the health and soundness of 
the stock from which they arc purchased ; and secondly, 
the quality of the soil on the produce of which it is intended 
to feed them. Stock for the dairy or the butcher should be 



AND RURAL ECOi\Oi\nST. 37 

selected from a breed of which you know or can ascertain 
every particular relative to their general health and sound- 
ness, and the manner in which they have been reared, in- 
cluding their food, sliolter, kc. 

" The Farmer's and Grazier's Complete Guide," by B. 
Lawrence, an Knglish writer, observes, "Much has been 
written as to what breeds are the best ; and a considerable 
greater stress has been laid on this part of the question than 
is borne out by any positive result ; there are good and bad 
of all kinds ; and provided you select sound and healthy 
animals tVom warranted stock, you will, if you treat theiH 
properly, have little to care for and less to fear. 

" Always purchase cattle that have been fed on lands of a 
poorer quality than your own ; but you must not too sud- 
denly put them to the richer food, or they will be liable to 
several dangerous diseases. It rarely happens, however, 
that cattle purchased from rich lands thrive well on poor 
soils ; but, on the contrary, those from poorer farms do well 
on good land. The choice of neat cattle, therefore, for the 
stocking of farms, must, in a great degree, be regulated by 
the nature and quality of the soil intended to feed them on. 

"It is also essential that the cattle should be young, as 
well as healthy and of sound constitution ; for the younger 
they are, the more likely they will be to do service. Their 
age may easily be knov.'n by the teeth ; like sheep, they 
have no fore teeth in the upper jaw ; it is in the lower, 
therefore, by which this must be determined : the horns also 
afford some guide in this respect. 

" The eight fore teeth of the lower jaw are shed, and re- 
placed by others which continue through life : the two mid- 
dle fore teeth fall out at about two years old, and are suc- 
ceeded by others not so white. At three years old they 
have two more next to those of the previous year ; and thus 
by the two succeeding years all the fore teeth are renewed ; 
they are then termed full mouthed, and are five years old. 
At the sixth year the row is even, the last two being com- 
pletely up. Besides these they have ten grinders in each 
jaw. 

" At the age of three years the horns are smooth and 
even ; in the course of the fourth year, a wrinkle or circle 
forms round the basis of the horn near the head ; this is 
every year succeeded by another, which always seems to 
move the other forward. In looking therefore at the horns 
of neat cattle, if the first circle be considered as three years, 
4 



38 THE COMPLETE FAKMER 

it will be an easy task to tell the aije of the beast at any sub- 
sequent period. An iiiiplieif reliance cannot, however, be 
phicecl on these njarks, paitieiilai ly in purchasing of stran- 
gers, or cow jobbers, such persons having been known to 
tile down some of the animal's teeth, and alter the appear- 
ance of the horns so as to give them the semblance and 
mirks of young cattle of the most valuable breeds, and pass 
them off as such to strangers." 

Coios for ihe Dairy. Jn selecting cows for the dairy, the 
following indications should be attended to. Wide horns, a 
thin head and neck, dew-lap large, full breast, broad back, 
large deep belly ; the udder capacious but not too fleshy ; 
the milch veins prominent, and the bag tending far behind ; 
teats long and large ; buttocks broad and fleshy ; tail long, 
pliable, and small in [)roportion to the size of the carcass, 
and the joints short. The Alderney breed gives a very rich 
milk. The Durham short horns, however, exceed them as 
respects quantity ; and we have the testimony of the Hon. 
Levi Lincoln, late governor of Massachusetts, that the milk 
of Denton's progeny, a branch of that race, is not only 
abimdant, but of excellent quality.* 

Cows should be milked regularly morning and evening, 
and as nearly as may be at the same hours. At six in the 
morning and six at night is a good general rule, as the times 
of milking will be equi-distant from each other. But if they 
are milked three times a day, as Dr. Anderson recommend- 
ed, the times may be five, one, and eight. He asserted 
that if cows were full fed, they will give half as much again 
if milked three times as if onlv twice. At the same time, it 
would prevent too great a distension of their bags, to which 
the best cows are liable. 

Thfe cow which is desired to remain in perfection, either 
for milking or breeding, should not be exhausted by drawing 
her tnilk too long after she becomes heavy with calf It is 
paying too dear for a present supi)ly of milk. She should 
be suffered to go dry at least two months before calving. 

The expense of keeping cows of a poor breed is as great 
and sometimes greater than that of keeping the best. If 
cows are poorly kept the difference of breeds will scarcely 
be discernible by the product of their milk. Some have 
therefore supposed that it is the food alone which makes the 
odds in the quantity and qualify of the milk. This supposi- 



* See New Englcind Farmer, Vol. IV. p. 318. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 39 

tion is very erroneous, as may be shown by feeding two 
cows of a similar age, size, &c. on the same food, tiie one 
of a good breed for milk and the other of a ditferent kind, 
and observing the dilfereuce in the milk product. No larm- 
er, unless he is very rich, can affjrd to keep poor milch cows. 
He might almost as well keep a breed of '• naked sheep," such 
as Swift mentions in " Gulliver's Travels." The farmer who 
raises a heifer calf that is from a poor milker, or of a breed 
of little value, is as tbolish as he would be, if, in clearing 
land, he should burn on the ground the birch, maple, and 
walnut, and save white pine and hendock for fire wood. And 
yet many sell the calves of the best milch cows to the butch- 
ers, because such calves are fattest ! 

Those cows which give the greatest quantity of thin milk 
are most profitable for suckling calves, for rich milk is said 
not to be so proper food for calves as milk which is less val- 
uable for dairy purposes. jMilk which contains a large pro- 
portion of cream is apt to clog the stomachs of calves ; 
obstruction puts a stop to their thriving, and sometimes 
proves fatal. For this reason it is best that calves should be 
ted with the milk which first comes from the cow, which is 
not so rich as that which is lust drawn. 

Mr. Kussel Woodward, in the " iMemoirs of the New 
York Board of Agriculture," says, " i have tound that 
younnf cows, the first year that they give milk, may bo made 
with careful milking and good keeping to give milk aim )st 
any length of time required. But if they are left to dry up 
early in the tall, they will be sure to dry up of tlieir milk 
each succeeding year, ii" they have a calf near the saniG 
season of the year ; and n )thiiig but e.xtraordiiiary keeping 
will prevent it, and thai but for a short time. 1 have had 
them dried up of their milk in August, and could not by any 
means make them give miik much beyond that time in any 
succeeding years." 

A writer in the "Bath and West of England Society's 
Papers," states, that if at any time a good milch cow should 
go dry beft)re her milk is gone, get a young calf and i)ut it 
to her in order to preserve her milk against another year ; 
for it is well known, if a cow goes dry one year, nature will 
lose its power of- acting in future. 

Cows should be treaUid witli great genlhmess and soothed 
by mild usages, especially when young and ticklish, or when 
the paps are tender ; in which case the udder ougiit to be 
ibinented with warm water before milking, and touched with 



40 THE COMPLETE FARMEIl 

great gentleness, otherwise the cow will be in great danger 
of contracting bad habits, becoming stubborn and unruly, 
and retaining her milk ever after. A cow never gives down 
her milk pleasantly to a person she dreads or dislikes. The 
udder and paps should be washed with warm water before 
milking, and care should be taken that none of t!ie water be 
admitted into the milking pail. 

The keeping of cows in such a manner as to make them 
give the greatest quantity of milk, and with the greatest 
clear protit, is an essential point of economv. Give a cow 
half a bushf^l of turnips, carrots, or other good roots per 
<lay, during the six winter months, besides her hay, and if 
her summer feed be such as it should be, she will give near- 
ly double the quantity of milk she would afford if only kept 
during the winter in the usual manner ; and the milk will be 
richer and of better quality. 

The carrots or other roots, at nineteen cents a bushel, 
amount to about eighteen dollars ; the addition of milk, 
allowing it to be only three quarts a day for three hundred 
days, at three cents a quart, twenty-seven dollars. It should 
be remembered, too, that when cows are thus fed with roots 
they consume less hay, and are less liable to several dis- 
eases, wliich are usually the etfects of poor keeping.* 

The keeping of cows is very profitahle. Allowing one to 
give only six quarts a day, f)r forty weeks in each year, and 
this is not a large allowance, her milk at two cents i)ei>qnart 
will amount to u[)wards of thirty-three dollars ; which is 
probably sutlicient to purchase her and pay for a year's 
keeping.* 

" A iarmer some years since ke\A eighteen cows on a 
conmion, and was oitcn obliged to buy butter for his family. 
The common was enclosed, and the same person supfdied his 
family amply with milk and butter from the produce of four 
cows well kept. 

" Great milkers seldom carry much flesh on their bones, 
but they pay as they go and never retire in our debt. The 
dilficulties in cow keeping are these : the expense of their 
f>od is considerable, more especially with respect to any 
which must be purchased, and if the produce be inconsid- 
erable it may be a losing concern. You may be feeding a 
sparing milker into tlesh, and if you stiiit her or allow her 
only ordinary food you get neither flesh nor milk."! 



* Farraer'.s A.^sistiint. f Mowbray on Poultry, &c. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 41 

Amateurs in this line should procure the largest milkers, 
and I Imd almost said give them gold, could they cat it. In 
this case it may be depended on, milk is always oj' tnove value 
tlian the best cow-Juod ; and a cow, the naturid tendency of 
wliich is to breed milk, will convert all nourishment, how- 
ever dry and substantial, into that fluid; in ("act, will require 
such solid kind of nourishment to support her strength and 
induce her to take the bull.* 

Keep no more cows than you can keep well; one cow well 
fed will produce as much milk as two indifferently treated, 
and more butter; and it" the cow he wintered badly, she will 
rarely recover, during the succeeding summer, so as to be- 
come piolitable to the feeder. Cows should by all means 
be housed in extreme weather, and particularly those which 
give milk, or a failure in the quantity of fiiilk will be expe- 
rienced. Wherefore, instead of keeping twenty cows poor- 
ly l"ed and but half of ihein stabled, sell ten and give the 
remaining ten food in amount equal to what the twenty orig- 
inally h;iJ ; procure constant stabling for them, and you 
will receive quite as much milk and butter in return as was 
derived from the former mode of treating twenty. Sweet 
potatoes, carrots, pumpkins, and ground oats, are unques- 
tionably among the best articles for food for milch cattle ; 
and they occasion the milk and butter to assume a fine 
flavor and color, as well as increase of quantity ."I" 

fViitier Food for Coivs. Mr. Chabert, the director of the 
veterinary schools of Alfort, had a number of cows which 
yielded very great quantities of milk. In his publications 
on the subject he observed, that cows fed in winter on dry 
substances give less milk than those which are kept on a 
green diet, and also that their milk loses much of its quality. 
Jrle published the fdlowing receipt, by the use of which his 
cows aflorded him an equal quantity and quality of milk 
during the winter as during the summer. " Take a bushel 
of potatoes, break them while raw, place them in a barrel 
standing up, putting in successively a layer of potatoes and 
a layer of bran, and a small quantity of yeast in the middle 
of the mass, whicli is to be left thus to ferment dui ing a 
whole week, and when the vinous taste has pervaded the 
whole mixture, it is then given to the cows, who eut it 
greedily." 

Pure water is an essential article for cows. Dr. Anderson 

* Mowbray on I'oiiltrj, &c. t Tieiitoii Eiiiporiuin. 

4* 



42 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

says, he knew a man who acquired great wealth by attention 
to things of this nature, and one of his principal discoveries 
was, the importance of having a continued supply of the 
purest water which could be obtained tor his cows ; and 
he would on no account permit a single animal to set his 
foot in it, nor allow it to be tainted even by the breath of 
animals. 

Parsnips cause cows to give milk in abundance, and that 
of the best quality. 

Working Coivs. An English cultivator, whose observa- 
tions are published in the appendix to Plymley's " Survey of 
Shropshire," says, " Cows are fattened easier and are bet- 
ter laborers than oxen. The uses of cattle are to work, 
milk, and fatten. I have seen barren cows work as well as 
oxen; they require less keep and walk fasler. When first I 
commenced farmer, I followed the example of my prede- 
cessor in feeding chiefly oxen; but I soon found that cows 
fattened much faster, and on less meal, and for some years 
past I have carefully avoided having any oxen in my 
stalls." 

Cows which are shortly expected to calve ought to be 
lodged at night in some convenient place under cover for a 
week or two before calving, as it might be the means of 
saving the life of the calf, and perhaps of the dam likewise. 
The day and nigkt after a cow has calved she should be kept 
under cover, and her drink should be lukewarm. Let her 
not be exposed for some time to the dampness of the night. 

Cows which are near calving ought to be fed with better 
and more substantial food than usual. Grain of any kind is 
now usetul, but it should be crushed, bruised, or coarsely 
grotmd. If the cleaning of a cow after calving be delayed, 
it may be promoted, according to Deane's " New England 
Farmer," by giving her a pail of warm water with some ashes 
in it; or, according to " The Grazier's Guide," the only thing 
to be given is toast and weak wine, or good cider or perry. 
If wine be preferred, mix it with an equal quantity of water. 
This toast should consist of four pints of wine and water, 
and about a pound and a half of bread toasted. 

Inflamed teats should be washed with two drachms of 
sugar of lead in a quart of water. Should tumors appear, 
apply a common warm mash f)f bran with a little lard. 

To prevent cows from sucking their own milk, it is said 
that rubbing the teats frequently with the most fetid cheese 
that can be procured is an cllcctual remedy. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 43 

In order that it may be ascertained what is the proper 
time for cows to go dry previous to their calving, an ac- 
count shouUl be kept of the time when each cow is put to 
bull, so that the cow may be dried olf in due season. The 
following prescription for drying olf cows is given in Monk's 
" Agricultural Dictionary." 

" Take an ounce of powdered alum; boil it in two quarts 
of milk till it turns to whey; then take a large handful of 
sage, and boil it in the whey till you reduce it to one quart; 
rub her udder with a little of it, and give her the rest by 
way of drink; milk her clean before you give it to her ; 
and as you see need repeat it. Draw a little milk from 
her every second or third day, lest her udder be over- 
charged." 

Cow-house or Stable. The most healthy stables are those 
which are open to the east, or have an eastern aspect. It is a 
common practice to build them too close. The stable should 
never be completely closed up, however cold the weather 
may be, although it is desirable that strong draughts of cold 
or damp air should be guarded against, especially in winter. 
It may be held as a general rule, that stables or cow-houses 
are too close when on entering the breath is alfected, or 
any smell of urine can be perceived. 

It is also very important to keep cow-houses or cattle 
stables clean and well littered. Dung left in stal)les soon 
renders the air unwholesome, and is the cause of disorders. 
Cows in a stable should be allowed a square space of at 
least six feet each way for each cow. Two or three venti- 
lators near the ground on the north side afford, at a trifling 
expense, an excellent way of renewing or sweetening the 
air in stables in the sununer time, and on the south side in 
winter, without occasioning draughts ; and these may be 
shut when necessary by means of straw, or, what is better, 
a sliding door. 

It is of no small importance that the floor of .1 cow-house 
be very tight, so that none of the stale be lost, which is of 
great value as manure, when mixed with other substances. 
A farmer might as well lose the dung as the urine of his 
beasts. 

"The common cattle stalls of our country are so ill con- 
trived, and so straitened in their dimensions, that the cattle 
are constrained to lie down in part in their own dung. This 
dries and forms a thick coat on their hind quarters, from 
which they arc not relieved till they shed their hair in the 



44 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

spring. They are thus rendered uncomforlahle. To be un- 
comfortable is to suUbr some degree of pain ; and no ono 
will suppose that animals in fuin can thrive, or preserve 
their plight with the same food equally with others perfectly 
at ease. Even hogs, tliongh prone to wallow in ihe mire 
in warm weather, are always pleased with a dry bed, and 
thrive best when kept clean."* 

The following, from the " Memoirs of the Pennsylvania 
Agricultural Society," is extracted from a letter Irom R. 
Smith to J. H. Powel, and will be of use in directing the 
most economical management of dairy cattle. 

" My barn is constructed according to the best Pennsyl- 
vania models. The yard is to the south of it. On the east 
and west sides are cow-stables, containing one hundred and 
ten well made stalls, ventilated by a sufficient number of 
windows and double doors. At the tails of each range of 
cows there is a drain made of strong planks, and so fixed as 
to receive all their dung and urine. These several drains 
have a sufficient declivity to carry all the fluid matter to their 
southern terminations, where they intersect similar drains, 
which convey all this liquid manure into a cistern, fifty feet 
long. This cistern is so placed and constructed as to re- 
ceive not only the urine of the stables, but also the liquid 
matter of the farm-yard. In it there is a pump, by means 
of which its contents are pumped into a large hogshead, 
fixed on a pair of wheels drawn by oxen. To the end of 
this hogshead is attached a box pierced with holes, into 
which this liquid numuie floats through a spigot and faucet, 
and is tlien sprinkled over the ground as t!ie oxen move for- 
ward." 

Food for falling Cnlllc, keiping Slock, ^c- It has been 
often said, and we believe correctly, that it is not profitable, 
generally speaking, to fatten cattle on any kind of grain. 
Lawrence on Neat Cattle asserts, that " corn [by wl.ich is 
meant oats, barley, rye, |)eas, beans, wheat, &.C.] cannot be 
used in the fattening of bullocks and sheep, except in sea- 
sons of superiibundant plenty. Even Indian corn is often 
too costly food to be used solely, or principally, for the prof- 
itable fattening of cattle ; and grass, hay, and roots are the 
materials which true economy requires." f It is, however, 
asserted, that beef fattened on oil cake, raw potatoes, tur- 

* Ciiiiiiiel Pickprinir. 

f See a coiiiiiiunicaiiun fur " The New Englaiul Fanner," Vol. I. p. 234. 



AND RITRAL ECONOMIST. 45 

nips, Stc, will not bo so firm, nor of so good a quality, oth- 
er things being equal, as tliat which is fattened on Indian 
corn. If that be true, it might be well to conunence feed- 
ing with turnips, potatoes, &.c., and give the animals richer 
food as they increase in fatness. 

An able writer says, " With respect to feeding, the first 
rule is, little at a time, and often ; because experience has 
shown that animals that eat nnich in a short time do not fat- 
ten so well as those which eat less but more frequently. 
The second rule is, to begin the course with cabbage and 
turnips, then to employ carrots and potatoes, and lastly 
Indian, oat, or barley meal. These aliments ought to be 
varied several times a day, and oftener if convenient ; and 
instead of always reducing them to a meal, there is advan- 
tage in sometimes boiling them. A little salt given daily is 
very useful." 

It would be advantageous to the community of farmers if 
something like the following experiments were made, and 
their results published. Let a number of cattle of similar 
or the same breed, age, propensity to fatten, as ascertained 
by handling, &.c., be fattened at the same time. Let one be 
fed entirely on potatoes raw ; a second on the same root 
steamed or boiled ; a third made one half or two-tiiirds fat 
on potatoes, and his fattening completed with Indian corn ; 
a fourth be fattened on Indian corn, or corn meal ; a fifth 
be fed with a mixture of all these kinds of food, given 
together in the same mess, or in different messes. The first 
food in the morning, for the last-mentioned bullock, might 
be a small quantity of potatoes, pumpkins, or turnips ; the 
second, ruta baga or carrots, mangel-wmzel, or parsnips. 
Ihen, as the last course of the day's feast, give Indian meal, 
or other food the richest you have. It would be well, like- 
wise, to try the virtues of sweet apples. The most impor- 
tant object of such experiments, however, would be to as- 
certain whether the beef of cattle fattened on potatoes or 
other roots, raw or boiled or steamed, is equal in qualily to 
that which is fattened on Indian corn. If not, whether an 
ox may not be made nearly fiit enough for profit on roots and 
hay, his fatting completed on corn, and the flesh be as good 
as if he had been fattened wholly on corn. And if an ox 
partly fattened on roofs, and his fattening completed on corn, 
gives as good beef as one wliolly fed on corn, the question 
occurs, hoio long a lime will it require to give tlie beef its 
good qualities arising from the corn ? We know, as re- 



46 THE COMFLETE FAKMER 

spects swiac, tliat fanners mnke thcin partly fat on any thing 
which they will devour, and then leed them for some time 
before they are killed with Indian corn or meal, to " harden 
iht flesh,'' as they express it ; and perhaps the same process 
will answer for beef cattle. Some farmers say that the red 
or La Plata potato, given raw to swine, make as good pork 
as that which is corn fed. Others say that any kind of po- 
tatoes, if steamed or boiled, will make as good pork as can 
be made of corn. If this be true of pork, it may be so of 
beef 

It is a truth which has been confirmed by repeated exper- 
iment, that food for su-ine fermented till it becomes a little 
acid will go farther and fatten them faster than unfermented 
food of the same quantity and quality. But it is not, I be- 
lieve, generally known in this country, that acid food is most 
valuable for neat cattle in certain circumstances. Mr. 
Bordley, (a celebrated American writer on Rural Economy,) 
however, asserts, that oxen made half fat, or in good plight, 
on grass or turnips, are then finished, in France, upon a 
sour food, prepared as folK)ws : rye meal (buckwheat or In- 
dian tneal may be tried) wiih water is made into panic, which 
in a few days ferments and becomes sour ; this is then dilu- 
ted with water, and Ihiekened with hay, cut into chaflT, which 
the oxen sometimes reiuse the first day, but when dry they 
drink and prefer it. All the husbandmen are decide dly of 
opinii^n that they fatten much better because of the afidily. 
They give it thrice a dav, and a large ox eats twenty-two 
pounds a day. Maize [Indian] meal, or maize steeped till 
it is sour, should be tried. This sour mess is given during 
the last three weeks of their ihttening, and they eat about 
seven and a half bushels of meal, value four dollars. 

Care should be taken that the process of fermentation be 
not carried too far. The paste should not become mouldy, 
nor the liquid food in the slightest degree putrid. We think, 
moreover, that there is good reason lor waiting till animah 
become " half fat," or in good plight, before they are fed 
with acid food. Acids, like alcohol, create appetite by 
stimulating the stomach, but if long continued they weaken 
the digestive powers, and in lime entirely destroy the tone of 
the stomach. The animal will then be visited with what in 
a human subject would be called dyspepsia, or a want of the 
power of digestion ; fattening him will be out of the ques- 
tion, and he will be worth but little more than the value of 
his hide. The constitution of an ox may be destroyed by 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST, 47 

excessive catinof, aiul it is only towards the close of his 
days, near the last stage of his [)rcparation tor the hutcher, 
that he should be allowed to become an epicure, and iii- 
diiljxcd witli as much as he can eat of rich and high-seasoned 
food. 

Store keep should neither be too rich nor too abundant ; and 
if an ox is once made Iht and then loses his flesh, he is like 
one ot' Pharaoh's lean kine, the more he devours the leaner 
he becomes. If young cattle are kept in rich pastures in 
summer and poor fodder in winter, somctiuies stuffed, at oth- 
er limes starved, they lose their disposition to fatten. To 
such cattle Mr. Lawrence alludes, when he says, " It is ex- 
tremely imprudent indolently to continue to k(^cp at high 
food animals which do not thrive ; I advert chiefly to indi- 
viduals with which the first loss is always the least." " Stock 
cattle," said Mr. Bordley, " are kepi, others are fattened. 
The feeding is different. Cattle kept need no kind of grain, 
nor even hny, unless to cows about calving time. Straw, 
with any juicy food, such as roots or drank * abundantly suf^ 
fice tor keeping cattle in heart through the winter, provided 
they arc sheltered from cold rains. JMr. Bakewell kept his 
fine cattle on straw and turnips through the winter. A drank 
for kcepino; cattle may be made thus : roots, chaft', or cut 
straw, and salt, boiled together with a good quantity of 
water ; the roots cut or mashed. The cattle drink the 
water and eat the rest. Drank for f aliening cattle thus: 
roots, meal, flax-seed, chaff, or cut straw, and salt, well 
boiled together in plenty of water. If given warm, not hot, 
the better." The same author says "Hay, meal, and lin- 
seed jelly with drank must be excellent food in stall feeding. 
Linseed jelly is thus made : seven quarts of water to one 
of flax-seed, steeped in a part of the water forty-eight hours, 
then add the remaining water, cold, and boil it gently two 
hours, stirring constantly to prevent burning. It is cooled 
in tubs, and given mixed with any meal, bran, or cut chaff. 
Each bullock (large) has two quarts ni' jelly a day ; equal 
to a little more than one quart of seed in Jour f/o//.s." 

In a tract entitled " Notices for a Youug Farmer," writ- 
ten by the Hon. Judge Peters, formerly president of the 
Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, are the following direc- 
tions : 



* Tlie word drank is given us l)y Couiil RuiufoiLl for distiiiguisiiing lliis com- 
position from waler. 



48 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

" Cut or chafT your hay, straw, corn tops, or blades, and 
even your stalks, with a straw cutter, and you will save a 
great proportion vvlucli is otlierwise wasted or passed through 
the animal without contributing to its nourishment. One 
bushel of chad'ed hay at a mess, given in a trough, three 
times in twenty-four hours, is sufficient for a horse, ox, or 
cow. A bushel of chatred hay, lightly pressed, weighs from 
five to five and a half pounds. A horse or horned beast 
thrives more on fiilcen pounds thus given than on twenty- 
four or twenty-five pounds as comtnonly expended (including 
waste) in the usual manner of feeding in racks; to which 
troughs, properly constructed, are far preferable.* Salt 
your clover and other succulent, as well as coarse hay. 
But over-salting diminishes the nutriment. More than a 
peck to a ton is supcrliuous. Half that quantity is often 
sufficient. Ten or fifteen pounds is usually an am[)le allow- 
ance. Feeding your stock by weight and measure of food 
will not only save your provender, by its orderly distribu- 
tion, but frequently save the lives of animals, too often 
starved by niggardliness or neglect, or gorged and destroyed 
by profusion. If it be true, as it is, tlsat the master's eye 
makes tlie horse fiit, it is equally so, that the master's eye 
prevents the horse from being pampered, wanton, pursive, 
bloated, foundered, and finally wind-broken and blind." 

If hay is salted by using salt in substance, it should be 
done at the time it is deposited in the mow. It is often a 
good practice to sprinkle a solution of salt in water over 
hay or other food for cattle in the winter time, especially if 
the fodder be of an inferior quality. 

Colonel Jaques, of Ten Mills larm, Charlestown, (Mass.) 
has been very successfiil in the breeding and rearing of neat 
cattle, and recommends from actual experiment the following 
mixture : 

Take Rii[;\ Ba?;i, cut fine, 2 hushels. 

" Wheiit l)ian, 1 bushel. 

" Powdered oil cake, i bushel. 
" English hay, bailey straw, and 

salt hay, cut, of each, 7 bushels. 

" Water, 10 gallons. 

Let them be perfectly mixed. Give a bushel of the mixture 
to a cow of the common size every night and morning, and 
proportionably to greater or smaller animals. 



* See further, Straw Cutler, under the head Agricultural Implements. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 49 

On soiling lahorinq; Oxen and Horses. By soiling do- 
mestic animals, is meant keeping them in yards, See, and 
cutting and giving tiieni grass, with or without other green 
or dry food. Instead of turning your oxen and horses, 
•which you have occasion to use frequently, into a pasture, 
perhaps adorned with thickets of hrushvvood, in which the 
animals may hide themselves beyond the reach of a search 
warrant, you had better soil them, and thus have them al- 
ways at hand. You must be careful that they are always 
well supplied with water, and plenty of litter to absorb the 
liquid manure, unless you have reservoirs, &.c. to answer 
the purpose of preventing its waste. The famous cultivator 
Arthur Voung, observed, that lucerne is the best plant for 
soiling, and an acre of it will go farther than any thing else. 
But clover or any other' grass, green or dry, butts of Indian 
corn cut up near the roots, cabbages, Js-C, Stc, may often be 
economically disposed of in soiling cattle or horses, whose 
services are requisite for the daily and hourly labors of the 
husbandman. But soiling on a large or general plan will 
not soon, if ever, be adopted in New England, where there 
are so many thousands of acres of pasture land which are 
fit for nothing but grazing. 

Cooking Food for Callle. Among the most useful im- 
provements of modern husbandry, may be numbered the 
practice of steaming or boiling food for domestic animals. 
Some account of the origin of this practice in Great Britain 
may be found in " The Complete Grazier," an English work of 
reputation, from which we have made the following extracts. 

" Steamed food may be given to milch cows to great ad- 
vantage. For this important fact in rural economy, we are 
indebted to the ingenious and persevering ex|)eriments of J. 
C. Curwin, Esq., M. P., whose attention to the comforts of 
his tenants, and judicious zeal for the improvement of agri- 
culture, are too well known to require any eulogy. In pros- 
ecution of a system which he had long practised of giving 
cooked food to animals, Mr. Curwin turned his attention to 
the cheapest mode of supplying milch cows with it ; and in 
a communication to the Society for the Encouragement of 
Arts, &c., (which was honored with their less gold medal,) 
he stated his belief that he has at length been completely suc- 
cessful. He uses a steam boiler of 100 gallons' contents,* 

* An engraving of it is given in the lliirtietli volume of the Society's Tians- 
actiuiis. 

5 



60 THE COMPLETE FAHMER 

on each side of which are fixed three boxes, containing 
eleven stones* each of cliali", (the husks ot" wheat, rye, 
&.C.,) which by being steamed gain more than one third of 
their original weight. 'I he steam is conveyed by various 
cocks into the lower part of the boxes; and thus two or 
three boxes may be steamed at the same time. The quanti- 
ty of fuel required was about two pounds for eacii stone of 
chaff. 

" In giving the steamed chaff to the cattle, two pounds ot 
oil cake were mixed with one stone of chaff; and the milch 
cows are fed with it morning and evening, having an allow- 
ance of one stone at each time. On being taken iioni the 
steamer the food is put into wooden boxes, which are mount- 
ed on wheels, to be drawn to the place wiiere it is intended 
to be used; and the chatT requires to stand some time before 
it is fit for use. 

" The average milk on a stock of thirty-six milch cows 
was nearly thirteen wine quarts for 320 days. The cows 
were never suffered to be turned out; and to prevent their 
being lame, their hoofs were jjroperly pared, and they stood 
with tlieir fore feet on clay. One great advantage attending 
this method was, that most if not all the milch cows were in 
such a condition, that with a few weeks' feeding, after they 
were dry, they became fit for the shambles, with very little 
loss from the first cost. As a substitute for chaff' and oil 
cake, Mr. Curwin recommends cut hay ; which, when 
steamed, would make very superior food, and he entertains 
no doubt would greatly augment the milk as well as the 
health of the animals." 

An apparatus for steaming food for cattle should be con- 
sidered a necessary appendage of every arable and dairy- 
farm of a moderate size. The advantage of preparing dit- 
ferent sorts of roots, as well as even grain, chafl", and hay, 
by means of steaming apparatus, for the nourishment of cat- 
tle, begins now to be generally understood. It has been long 
known that many sorts of roots, and particularly the potato, 
become much more valuable by undergoing this sort of 
preparation. And it is equally well known, that when thus 
prepared, they have been employed alone as a substitute for 
grain, with cut chaff for hay and grain, in the feeding of 
horses as well as other animals. I'o a farmer who keeps 
horses or cattle, or even swine or poultry, the practice of 

* Fourteen pounds a stone. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 51 

boiling their food in steam is so great a saving and ad- 
vantage, that it deserves the most particular attention. 
Though potatoes liave often been given raw both to horsea 
and cattle, they are found to be greatly preferable when 
cooked by steam, as they are thereby rendered much drier 
and more nutriiive, and belter than wiiea boiled in water ; 
this has been long since shown by the experiments of Wake- 
field, of Liverpool, who, in order to ascertain it, fed some of 
his horses on steamed and some on raw potatoes, and soon 
found the horses fed on the steamed potatoes had greatly 
the advantage in every respect. Those fed on steamed 
potatoes looked perfectly smooth and sleek, while the others 
were quite rough. 

A steaming machine oa a simple and economical plan con- 
sists of a boiler, and a wooden chest or box, placed over or 
near it. The box may be of any size, and so placed as to 
he supplied a;id emptied by wheel or hand-barrows in th^ 
easiest manner, either by the end or top, or both, being 
made to open. If the box is made eight feet by five, and 
tluee feet deep, it will hold as many potatoes as will feed 
fiity cows for twenty-four hours, and these may be steamed 
in an hour.* 

The practice of cooking food for cattle is by no means a 
novelty in New England. A simple apparatus for this pur- 
pose much used is as t'ollows : 

A kettle, holding twelve gallons or more, is set in a fur- 
nace of brick or stone, and over this a hogshead with one 
head taken out and the other bored full of holes. This is set 
so close that tiie steam of the kettle, when boiling, can onl/ 
rise through the holes, and thence ascend among the arti- 
cles to be boiled in the hogshead, and pass olF at the top. In 
this way a hogshead of potatoes will be nearly as soon boil- 
ed as a small part of them could be if placed in the kettle 
underneath. 

As the kettle is so closed as to prevent any steam from 
passing oiT but through the bottom of the hogshead, a pipe 
or tube is set in such a manner that with the aid of a funnel 
water may be poured into the kettle as often as is necessary. 
After the water is poured in, the tube is .stopped with a plug 
fur that purpose. 

Grain of all kinds may be steam-boiled to great advantage 

♦ For a simple a|i|innitiis for straining food for cattle nnd pvviiie, see a cut 
uuder the head A;^ricuUurul LnplemnUx. 



62 THE COMFLETE FARMER 

for feeding and fattening cattle; but in that case it is requis- 
ite to have the bottom of the liogshcad coveied with a chjth, 
to prevent the grain from running down through the holes. 

lu the fifth volume of "The New England Farmer," (p. 
306,) are some notices of the use made of steam in prepar- 
ing food for cattle, in a letter from R. Smith, Esq., President 
of the Maryland Agricultural Society, on the management 
of dairy cattle, Stc, to John Hare Fowel, Esq. 

" For the purpose of augmenting the quantity and improv- 
ing the quality of the food of tny stock of every kind, 1 have 
established a steaming apparatus. It consists of a boiler and 
two wooden boxes, in which boxes is steamed the food. 
'I'hese boxes contain eacli eighty bushels. By this simple 
apparatus, everv species of coarse vegetable o(]'al is convert- 
ed into nourishing fi>od, and all the ordinary provender is 
rendered more nutritious. 

"In the dairies near Philadelphia, it is well known, that 
sweet butter of the first quality cannot be made but from 
cream quickhj produced from fresh milk, and that whenever 
the milk remains many days to jiroduce its cream, such 
cream acquires an unpleasant taste that is imparted to the 
butter. 

" Since the month of January, 18'23, my dairy people 
have been in the practice of always placing the pans c<ni- 
taining the milk in water simmering hot. 'ihe oily parts 
which constitute tlie cream are by such heat separated liom 
the other ingredients, and then, from their specilic lightness, 
they of course ascend to the top in tlie form of cream. 
Cream is thus obtained during the coldest weather in winter 
in the course of about twelve hours alter the milk has been 
taken Irom the cows. And the operation of churning such 
cream never exceeds twenty-five minutes. The milk pans 
remain in the hot water about thiity minutes. The butter 
has invariably been of a line fiavor, and of a beautiful yel- 
low color ; and, in the nature of things, it never can bo 
otherwise, unless the dairy woman should be utterly igno- 
rant of the art of making sweet butter. 

" It may nut be amiss to state to you, that the skim-milk 
under this process is a very pleasant beverage In summer 
and winter it bears the agitation of a carriage without be- 
coming sour. And every morning through the year a per- 
son comes to the farm and takes Irom "i50 to 300 quarts, for 
which he pays two cents per quart, cash, and on the same 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 53 

hay he retails the whole among the people of the town, at 
three cents p«;r quart. 

" The hot water in which the milk pans are placed is con- 
tainefi in large flat wooden vessels, atl ached to a stove. 'J'he 
water is heated by means ol' a flat tuhe fastened to the side, 
and near to the b<.tliiin oleach vessel, and introduced through 
an aperture; into tiie stdve. The heat ol" the stove alFords 
the addilional advantage of preserving in the dairy house 
the requisite temperature during the winter season. 

" 'i he dairy house is a stone buildhig, consisting of three 
spacious apartments for the preservation of the milk, the 
cream, and the butter, juid for the making of the butter. 
Two of these apartments are under ground and arched, and 
properly ventilated. 'JO the south side is attached a con- 
venieiit shed, witli the requisite shelves, and with a copper 
boiler for washing and keeping in good and sweet condition 
ail the dairy utensils. In tiont is a pent hoiise." 

Jesse ]:5uel, Esq., reconmiends using a boiler instead of a 
wooden vessel lor cooking food tor swine. He observes, " I 
have thrown by my steamer for hog f )od and substituted a 
boiler. The t'ormer consisted of a sixty gallon cask, over a 
potash kettle badly set. I could only work off four or tive 
casks a day, with great labor and trouble, and the appa- 
ratus required to be luted with clay at every operation. 
With my new kettle, holding thirty gallons, which is a thiti 
and beautiful casting, J have cooked eight and nine barrels 
in half a day, and nuicii better than by the steam process. 
This food consists of small r(;l"use potatoes, of which 1 have 
nearly 100 bushels, or hiteen per cent, of my whole crop, 
pumpkins, and a small quantity of Indian meal. A half 
day's boiling serves my hog lamily lor four or tive days; and 
it is always kept |)repared in advance, 'i'he actual expense 
of fattening hogs thus, upon the refuse of the farm crop, is 
fifty to seventy-five per cent, less than feeding with dry 
corn. 

" The economy of my apparatus consists much in setting 
the boiler so as to have all the advantage of the fire. 'Jhe 
interior brick work is made to conform to the shape of the 
boiler, leaving an interval of four to six inches betWeea 
them for the lire, round the whole exterior of the kettle, 
with the exception of a few inches at top, where the flange 
or rim rests upon the projecting bricks. Thus the boiler is 
not only encompassed by the flann?, but the heat is augment- 
ed by radiation from the brick work. The fuel is burnt on 
5* 



54 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

a j^rate, which extends nearly to the kettle, four or five in- 
ches above the level of its bottom. My boiler being in ope- 
ration while I ain preparing these remarks, I have ascer- 
tained, that a kettle of potatoes with three pails of cold 
water, covered with boards, has been completely boiled in 
eighteen minutes from the time they were put in, another 
boiling having been just previously taken out. My kettle 
was set by a son in his teens, without assistance, and was 
his first effort in masonry." 

In cooking for cattle, however, when hay and other bulky 
articles of food are prepared by heat, steam will be found 
the best medium. Care should be taken to make the vessel 
in which the steaming is effected so tight that the steam 
cannot escape till it becomes quite hot and elastic. A cover 
of good weight sitting close, but capable of being raised a 
little by steam of high pressure, may be made to operate 
like a safety valve, and at the same time confine the steam 
till it exceeds '212 degrees, the heat of boiling water. Any 
food is better when cooked by steam of a high temperature, 
than when merely soaked in an artificial fog, not much 
warmer than a mist which caps the hills on a summer's 
inornins:. 



CALVES. Calves designed for veal should be taken 
from the cow the next day after they are calved. They 
should be permitted to suck only two teats during the first 
week, three during the second, and should have the whole 
of the milk the third and fourth week, at the end of which 
time they will be fit to kill. The teats not allowed to be 
sucked should be previously milked. 

When calves are to be reared, some permit them to run 
with the cow, and take all the milk the first season. But 
fine animals are raised without taking any milk from the cow 
after three or four days. They should have more or less 
milk for about twelve weeks. They may be fed with skim- 
med milk or water gruel after the first tbrtnight ; or hay tea 
may be mixed with their milk, or their milk may be mixed 
with meal and water. After a calf has sucked or drank 
milk for the space of a month, take some fresh and sweet 
hay, and put small locks of it into cleft sticks, in such a 
manner that the calf can easily have access to them, and he 
will soon learn to eat hay. 

Whether calves are iiitcnded to be fattened or to be reared, 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 55 

it is best to feed them three times a day. But whether they 
ar« fed two or three times, the intervals between their meals 
shoiiUI be regular, and as nearly as possible equi-distant. 

'J he method for rearhig calves pursued by Mr. Crook, as 
mentioned in "The Letters and Papers of the Bath and 
West of England Society," is as follows : He purchased 
three sacks of linseed, value '21. i's., (equal to about nine 
dollars,) which lasted him throe years. One quart of seed 
was boiled in six quarts of water for ten minutes, to a jelly, 
which was given to the calves three times a day mixed with 
a little hay tea. And he states, that his calves throve much 
better than those of his neighbours, which were fed with 
milk. Thus it seems, tbat less than eighteen cents' worth of 
flax-seed, witb a trifle of hay, is sullicient for one calf. 
Linseed oil cakes, wben pulverized and boiled, make an 
equally good broth or jelly. 

If skim-milk is given to calves it should be boiled, and 
sulTored to stand till it cools to the temperature of that first 
given by tl»e cow. It is better boiled than when warmed 
only. W the milk be given too cold it will cause the calf to 
purge. If this is the case, put two or three spoonfuls of 
runnet into the milk, and it will stop the looseness. If the 
calf is bound, pork broth is said to be a good and safe thing 
to put into the milk. 

Dr. Deane was of opinion, that it was better to wean 
calves on hay than on grass. "They are more docile when 
raised in the barn, and thrive better " A Mr. John Gordon 
says, that " calves should not be suffered to eat any grass the 
first year, and from experience I lind it much tbe cheapest 
to keep them shut up and feed them, as the land sufhcient 
to pasture one will produce hay enough to feed two calves 
through the year, and pay the expense of cultivation, and 
one year's growth will certainly be added to the cattle."* 

It is not probable, however, that many of our farmers will 
incur the trouble of raising calves in a barn : therefore, 
" when calves are put in a pasture, it should be such as is 
dry and sweet. White clover is the best for them ; red clo- 
ver or trefoil is also good. Mr. L. Hommedieu recommends 
that there be no water in the pasture, but sufficient shade. 
The effect of this is, that the calves learn to feed at night, or 
when the dew is on, and lie by in the day ; and as the grass 
while wet with dew is believed to be most nourishing, they 

* M. ssacliusetts Agi icultiiiul Rcpoi tSj Vul. V. p. 78. 



56 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

will in this way thrive much better than those which have 
free access to water ; for this, it is contended by Mr. L. 
Honiniedieu, has a tendency to stunt them, and make them 
pot-beUied. Probably the better way is, to give them a lit- 
tle nourishing drink at certain times, when the dews fail, or 
at mid-day, when tiic weather is very warm."* 

The best calves for bringing up, are tiiose calved early in 
the season, or before June. "When calves are weaned, 
thev should not be sulTered to be with their dams any more 
till fall ; neither should they be pastured within sight or 
heaving of them. It will cause them, to neglect their feed- 
ing ; and they will not forget their sucking. 

•' At the setting in of cold nights in autumn, calves must 
be nightly housed ; and not be out early in the morning, nor 
late in the evening. And as the pinching cold of winter 
will be extremely detrimental to them, they should be kept 
very warm in their house, well supi)lied with water, and let 
out only on the warmest days. A great deal of care is 
necessary to bring them through the first winter, which is 
t!ie most dangerous period of their lives. They will acquire 
so fnuuh strength during the following summer that they 
will have nothing to fear tinm the cold of a second winter." 
— Biijf'on, Hisloire JWihirctle. 

" I'he American Farmer " gives the following method of 
making hai/ lea for calves. Take about a pound of red clo- 
ver hay, well got in, and six quarts of clear spring water ; 
boil tliein together till the water is reduced to four quarts ; 
then take out the hay and mix a pound of barley, oat, bean, 
[or Indian] meal amongst a little water, put it in the pot or 
cauldron while boiling, and keep it constantly stirring until 
it is thickened. Let it cool, then give it to the calf, adding 
as much whey as will make a sufficient meal. 

To make calves lie quiet, more especially during a tempo- 
rary scarcity of milk, balls made of wheat flour, and a suffi- 
cient quantity of gin to form it into a paste, are recotnmend- 
ed by iMr. Marshall; three balls about the size of walnuts 
to be given al)out a quarter of an hour before each meal. 
The eifect is, that instead of wasting themselves by incessant 
" bawling," they lie quiet, sleeping a piincipal part of the 
time. Probably, Indian or rye meal, mixed up with gin, 
whiskey, or other cheap spirit, might answer a good purpose 
as an occasional c.\j)edient. \Ve should not advise, however, 

* I'iinuer's .'Vssisl;\iit. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST 57 

to oftcii diet calves in tluit manner, unless they were intend- 
ed tor tiie. butcher; tor we should be ajjprehensive that t'eed- 
ing them with such nice mcrises would render tliem too deli- 
cate and innalij luoulhtd to become hardy and profitable cattle. 
Young advises, when calves are troubled with scourino^, to 
give tliem powdered chalk and wheat meal, worked into a 
ball with gin. 

The following is the mode of rearing calves adopted by 
the Shakers, iu Canterbury, N. H., communicated in a letter 
from Mr. Francis Winkley to IMr. Levi Bartlctt, of Warren, 
New Hampshire, and published in " The New England 
Fanner," (V^>1. 11. p. SOo.) 

" We let calves that come in the fore part of March suck 
about a week or ten days, then take them from the cow, giv- 
ing them a moderate allowance of new milk to drink, till 
they have learned to drink it freely; then put in some skim- 
med milk ; and we feed them wholly with skimmed milk, 
taking care to give it at about the temperature of milk taken 
directly from the cow, by heating a part of it and mixing it 
with the rest. Care should be taken not to scald the milk 
when heated; also not to give them any sour milk, for this 
will make them scour. The trough or vessel in which they 
drink tiieir milk should likewise be kept clean, and not sut- 
fered to become sour. 

" We let the milk stand about twelve hours before it is 
skimmed; giving a calf at lirst a'lout four quarts night and 
morning; increasing the mess as need requires till lie is six 
weeks old, from which lime till ten weeks old he will re- 
quire, |)erhaps, about twelve quarts per day. 

" When about ten weeks old, we begin to diminish the 
quantity of milk for about the space of two or three weeks, 
at which time we wean them. During the whole process 
from tsvo to fourteen weeks of age, calves should be well 
supplied with good hay, salt, and provender; such as oats, 
wiieat bran, and oil cake, ground (inc. 

"The particular advantages to be derived from the above 
method ot treatment are the lollowing : 

"1. It is much cheaper than to let them suck in the ordi- 
nary way; wliereas it makes a great saving of cream for 
butter, and tiiat without injuring the calves, if they are prop- 
erly attended to. 

" :2. It prevents calves from moaning or pining so much 
while weaning, as they would otherwise do, when taken from 
the cows. 



58 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

"3. It not only prevents the cows being injured in conse- 
quence of the calves biting the teats, but also prevents their 
holding back the milk from the milker, whiclj ot'tcn serves to 
diminish the quantity of milk af;er\vards. 

"The only disadvantage to be found in the above method 
of treatment is, that it requires some more labor to feed 
them, where they thrive equally well in every respect as 
those do which are permitted to suck in the ordinary way." 

The following is from "The United States Gazette." 

" Among the modern improvements in farming, the dairy 
has of late years been very much neglected. So much of 
the profit of breeders depending upon the facility with which 
the milk of the cow may be reserved during the sucking 
time of the calf, the following substitute, used in Germany, 
for the natural food of the young progeny, may be accep- 
table to our country readers. 

" Let as much water be heated on the fire as the calf will 
be disposed to drink, and when it boils throw one or two 
handfuls of oat meal* into it, and after continuing in that 
state for one minute, take it off, and let it be cooled to the 
temperature of new milk, when one or two pints of skimmed 
milk are to be added to it. With this beverage, the young 
animal will fatten and tlirive prodigiously: the milk of the 
parent will be applied to the dairy, and the intelligent far- 
mer will immediately discover the great advantage to be 
derived in the produce of the dairy from such an expedi- 
ent." 

Willich's "Encyclopedia" observes, " In order to make 
calves fine and fat, the best and most efficacious way is, to 
keep them as clean as possible, by elevating their coops in 
such a manner that the sun may not have too great power 
over them, and to such a height above the level of the 
ground that their urine may pass off; by giving them fresh 
litter every day, and suspending over the coop a large chalk- 
stone, so that they can easily lick it. Besides this, it is 
usual to bleed them when they are about a month old, and 
again just before they are slaughtered; which practice tends 
in a considerable degree to the beauty and whiteness of the 
flesh, and is therefore more frequently repeated by some 
larmers; [in E^ngland;] but this is not altogether necessary; 
twice bleeding being fully sufficient for that purpose, in the 
opinion of the most experienced breeders. It is, however, 

■ <r 

* Indian meal will do as well. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 59 

to l)e observed, that those calves which are intended for 
bulls or lor oxen should be selected as soon as possible; as 
the operation necessary to make them oxen should not be 
del'erred till the calves are mi>re than twenty days old. 

A writer lor " 'I'he iSew EngUind Farmer," with the sig- 
nature S. X., (Vol. VIII. p. 76,) observes, that "A very 
intelligent practical farmer states, that he considers nothing 
more conducive to the thriving of sucking calves than to 
keep in their pen an ample supply of dry yellow loam, of 
which they are at liberty to eat treely as they choose. They 
will eat it eagerly, and he regards it of more value than 
Indian meal. 'Ihere is no better evidence of its utility than 
the fact that no nuui's calves find a readier sale or bring a 
higher price in our market than his. The philosophy of it 
we do not pretend to explain." 

Monbray says, "The calf may be sold (or taken from the 
cow) as soon as it has drawn the biestings or first milk, un- 
less any coriiio- or defect in the cow's udder or teats may 
render it desirable for the calf to suck a few days, in order 
that the action may clear oft' any obstructions, for which the 
butting of the calf's head is generally the best remedy. If 
intended to be fattened for the butcher, it Jiiust be kept in a 
pen particularly dry and clean; suckled twice a day at regu- 
lar hours; always have the first, which is the thinnest of 
the milk, and not be permitted to overcharge its stomach. 
Lumps of soft chalk aie usually placed for the calf to lick, 
as an absorbent to neutralize the acidities engendered in the 
stomach from feeding on milk. It seldom pays to fatten a 
calf beyond ten or twelve weeks. 

^' fVcaniiis; and reai'ing Calves. A calf may be weaned by 
being gradually accustomed to suck milk in a pail through 
the fingers. Many are reared on very little milk mixed with 
hay tea, linseed, or other slops; fed on straw in the winter, 
and in summer on the common: such cannot be expected to 
turn to much account. The best cattle are reared fiom the 
teats, well wintered in good shelter, and full fed until they 
attain their growth. Warmth and dry lodging are of the 
utmost consequence to the improvement of all young ani- 
mals. Calves may. however, be reared to good profit, by 
being suffered to suck a very moderate quantity daily, the 
bulk of their food consisting of skimmed milk, thickened 
with oat or wheat meal; their winter food being carrots or 
Swedish turnips sliced, and cut straw, with a small quantity 
of hay, daily." 



60 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

"The Grazier's Guide" observes, " If the calf be in- 
tended for the butcher, it may be taken from the cow in 
about a week or ten days, and fed the remainder of the time 
by hand; but the time of taking the calf away must be deter- 
mined by the state of the cow's udder; for unless that be 
free from kernels and indurations, the calf must be allowed 
to suck, as the jolting of its head is the means of healing or 
restoring the udder, and preventing the downfall or inflam- 
mation in this part, wiiich niiglit cause much trouble, and 
even endanger the life of the cow. 

"But if the calf is intended to be reared, it should not be 
weaned until at least six weeks or even two ntonths old, 
whether male or female. For such, there is no food like the 
cow's milk; and if she does not yield a sufficient quantity, 
that of another ought to be had recourse to. It is an incon- 
trovertible fact, ti»at the longer a calf sucks, not only the 
larger and stronger will it become, but it will also acquire a 
much better fjrm and more robust liealth." 

Calves which come early should be preferred for the rear- 
ing. Those which come late, do not acqiiire sufficient 
strength to bear the cold of winter; tliev languish, and are 
reared with difficulty. Calves should not be weaned too 
suddenly, but by little and little. The less they are able to 
eat, the more they should be allowed to suck; after a while 
they may be brought to take it from the pail. This is done 
by placing the hand in the milk, with the palm upwards, and 
under (he milk, while the fingers are raised above the sur- 
face of the milk fur the calf to lay hold of with its mouth, 
which it does very readily, and sucks up the milk with great 
ease. 

When they are completely taken away, they should be 
fed with a little bran, and some of the best soft and fragrant 
hay of the second crop ; they should be allowed plenty of 
the skitnmed milk, and now and then a little water in which 
barley has been boiled and broken up, or a little buttermilk 
occasionally. There is at first some difficulty in bringing 
them to drink, but a little perseverance will accustom them 
to if. 

Moderate warmth and dry lod^in(r are of the utmost con- 
sequence to young calves ; and if we would turn them to 
any good account, they must not be stinted either in these 
or in their food. Calves which have recently been weaned 
and are not at pasture should be fed often, at least three 
times, and it is better five times a day. As soon as they are 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 61 

fit to follow the mother they should be let out, as they are 
greatly benefited by air and exercise. Calves sometimes ac- 
quire a habit of sucking one another, of which trick they 
may be broken by separating them. 

Calves cannot be kept too clean, nor have fresh litter too 
often. If they are suffered to lie on their own dung and 
urine, they will become mangy, and scarcely ever thrive. 
They are subject to several disorders, such as diarrhoea, 
dysentery, costiveness, kc. As a means of preventing the 
greater number of the diseases to which they are liable, the 
following rules are prescribed in "The Farmer's and Gra- 
zier's Guide." 

" 1st. Let the young calf suck the first milk. This will 
cleanse its bowels, and prevent costiveness. 

" 2d. Let it suck from its mother at least two months, and 
then wean it gradually. 

"3d. Ijet its first food be such as is easy of digestion, 
and let it have plenty of sweet skimmed milk and good hay. 

"4th. Keep it very clean, well rubbing it occasionally 
with a wisp of hay or straw. 

" 5th. Keep its stable clean, and perfectly free from all 
impurities. 

" 6th. Let it have gentle exercise ; the best will be fol- 
lowing the mother in the meadow or pasture. 

7th. Do not stint it either in good food or good drink, and 
change its litter often enough to keep it clean, sweet, and 
dry." 



OXEN. Till oxen are four years old they are usually 
called steers ; afterwards oxen. The signs of a good ox, 
according to Dr. Deane, are these : thick, soft, smooth, and 
short hair ; a short and thick head ; glossy, smooth horns ; 
large and shaggy ears ; wide forehead ; full, black eyes ; 
wide nostrils ; black lips ; a thick fleshy neck and large 
shoulders ; broad reins ; a large belly ; thick rump and 
thighs ; a straight back ; a long tail, well covered with hair; 
short and broad hoofs. The best colors are brown, dark 
red, and brindled. When an ox has completed his eighth 
year he should be fattened. 

If oxen are worked in the yoke in wet weather, their necks 
are apt to become sore. To prevent this, a little tallow 
should be rubbed on the parts of the yoke which lie upon 
their necks, and also on the bows. 
6 



62 THE COMPLETE FARMEK 

The following remarks on the management of working 
oxen, are from " Ihe New Knglaad farmer," Vol. VJ. p. 
191, 

" Do not retard the growth of your beasts of draught, en- 
danger their health, and render them insigniticaiit m ttie eyes 
of many, by working them hard while young. But the 
younger they are inured to light work, the more docile they 
ivill generally become, 

"An English writer recommends carding oxen, and says 
'the ox, alter the sensation becomes f'amiliur, receives pleas- 
ure from the operation, and will momentarily tbrego his 
meal to receive the full enjoyment. His ttieder perceives 
this, and brushes the part which gives the most pleasure. 
The ox shows his gratitude by wagging his tail ; the feeder 
in return calls him by name, and ingratiates himself with 
him. Thus not only an intimacy hut a mutual affection is 
formed, which at once gives attention to the keeper and do- 
cility to the ox, and renders the labors of both pleasant.' 

" Their labor and their fodder ought to be proportioned, 
that their health and their spirits may he kept in full tone. 
Their coats ought to be sleek ; their hides loose and silky ; 
the flank should fill the hand, and the shoulder handle mel- 
low. IC they l)e overworked or underfed, sluggishness and 
disease will inevitably follow. A working ox ought always 
to be beef, that in case of accident he may be fit for the 
table." 

1'he common mode of working oxen by a yoke, has been 
condemned by many agricultural writers. Mr. Cooper, an 
Englishman, according to Young's "Eastern Tour," used 
collars on oxen as on horses, except that they were buckled 
on with the narrow and open end downward. They draw in 
fjarness abreast, in pairs, single, or in a line, and walk as fast 
as horses. Mr. Bordley said, he " saw a wagon in Pennsyl- 
vania drawn by two bulls and two oxen, bridled and geered 
in harness and collars." 

It appears, by a work entitled "Letters from Cuba," by 
Dr. Abiel Abbot, that in managing the oxen of that island, 
the yoke is made fast to the horns, " near the root, behind, 
so that it does not play backward and forward, and gives to 
the oxen a similar but belter chance of backing, (as, in 
teamster's phrase, it is called.) I have been astonished at 
the power of those oxen in holding back. 1 here is a short 
hill in one of the streets qf this city, at an angle nearly of 
forty-five degrees. Standing at the foot of it, I saw a cart 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 63 

and oxen approaching at the top, with three hogsheads of 
molasses, and the driver sitting on the forward cask. The 
driver did not so much as leave his perch ; the oxen went 
straight and fearlessly over the pitch of the hill, and it 
seemed as if they must he crushed to death. The animals 
squatted like a dog, and rather slid than walked to the bot- 
tom of the hill. Have we any animals that could have done 
it ? And if they could, have we any docile enough to have 
done it with the driver in the cart ? Thus superior is this 
mode of yoking in holding back the load in difficult places. 

" It gives them still more decisive advantage in drawing. 
A fdlet of canvas is laid on the front below the horns ; and 
over this fillet the cords pass, and the animal presses against 
the most invulnerable pail of his frame ; his head, his neck, 
his whole frame are exerted in the very manner in which he 
exerts his mighty strength in combat. It is the natural way, 
therefore, of availing yourself of this powerful and patient 
animal to the best advantage." 

A writer for " The Genesee Farmer " observes, that "the 
frequent abuse of our laboring animals by those who receive 
the benefits of their labors, and who ought in return to treat 
them mercifully, has often given tne great pain. I have em- 
ployed in the course of my business a great many men and 
teams, i)oth with oxen and horses, and I never yet knew a 
bawling, noisy, whipping teamster who did a great day's 
work ; nor have I scarcely known such a one who kept a 
fat team. The best man who ever did me any labor was a 
good substantial farmer ; his oxen were always fat, and spry 
as colts ; he would never hitch them to any thing which he 
knew they could not draw ; of course they were not dis- 
cr)ura£ied ; and he hardly ever spoke' to them louder than in 
a low tone of common conversation. He would frequently 
talk to them soothingly, and encourage them when he had a 
hard jol) on hand, which was often the case. After making 
a heavy pull he would sometimes pat them on the back, but 
I rarely ever knew him to strike or worry his team. He 
carried a slender goad with a short lash to guide them with, 
and a mere swing of the whip was sufficient for his purposes. 
I have known several such persons in my life, and I do not 
hesitate to sav, that any person who so manages his team 
will get more labor at less expense, and with more ease to 
himself, than bv the ordinary bawling, whipping method so 
much practised in our countrv. All the difference with these 
peopJe is, that the one understands and studies the nature 



64 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

and disposition of his animals, and the other does not. 'An 
even temper and a steady hand,' ought to he the teamster's 
motto, the world over." 

The following valuable observations on the subject of 
breaking steers and colts, are extracted from a communica- 
tion written for "The New England Farmer," by Mr. 
James Walker, of Fryeburgh, Maine, and published in that 
paper, Volume XII. p. 113. 

" I call my young cattle calves till they are one year old. 
I have a littlH yoke made with a staple and ring in it. I tell 
my little boys to yoke up their calves : a small boy can do 
it, and it is quite a pastime to them ; they being so young, 
are not so strong but that he can manage them with ease ; 
any small stick or twig answers to drive them with, and there 
is no danger of the boy or steers being hurt. When he can 
drive them where he wishes them to go, which will soon be 
the case, he v/ill hitch them to a small piece of wood, or if 
in winter put them to a hand sled, and drive round with that; 
they will soon become docile. There is no trouble with 
them afterward, especially if they are yoked a few times the 
second winter ; it makes them fond of their mates. Oxen 
that are trained when young are much more pliable and obe- 
dient, which adds much to their value : steers that run till 
they are three or four years old are dangerous animals to 
encounter with ; they are always rinining away with the 
cart or sled whenever there is a chance for them, and often 
serious injury is the result. I would not recommend work- 
ing steers hard while young, as it would prevent their 
growth ; there is a difference between working them and 
barely training them. 

" Colts I begin with very soon after they are foaled ; the 
mare should be bridled and led to the door, and given a lit- 
tle salt. When the colt is one or two days old, take him by 
the neck, handle him gently; he is then so young that he is 
not afraid, if his dam is near by him; continue this practice, 
and he will very soon become fond of his owner, and will 
come on purpose to be handled, after two or three weeks. 
It does not hurt the mare or the colt to use her moderately 
If you want to go to meeting on the Sabbath, harness the 
mare into the chaise or wagon, and tie the colt to the arm of 
the carriage; he may be a little obstinate at first, but in go- 
ing a few rods will be |)caceable and very orderly; if there 
are many other horses about, your colt is always with you ; 
if you want to stop at a place any time, let your colt loose; 



AND RDKAL ECONOMIST. 65 

he can be taken again without difficulty, and bef<)re you start 
oflT tie your colt again; in this way there is no trouble of 
the colt following other horses away. When they become 
old enough for service, you do not have to run all over the 
pasture for the horses; they can always be taken with ease. 
Colts trained in this way are completely halter broken. 
When you begin to harness them, they are not frightened at 
the noise of the carriage behind them, and are sooner made 
quiet in the harness. It has been a common saying, that if 
colts are handled when they are young, it depresses their 
courage, which I am convinced is not the fact. I have 
raised as many horses as most farmers of my age in this vi- 
cinity, and some of them the most spirited I ever saw. The 
above rules I have practised for quite a number of years, and 
can recommend them to others with confidence." 

On training Oxen to back a Cart. A writer for " The Maine 
Farmer," with the signature of " A Teamster," states as 
follows : 

" I have observed that very little if any attention is paid 
by our farmers to learn their steers to back; but as they be- 
come able to draw a very considerable load forward^ they 
are often unmercitiilly beaten on the head and face because 
they will not back a cart or sled with as large 'a load as they 
can draw forwards, forgetting that much pains have been 
taken to learn them to draw well forward, but none to learn 
them to push backward. To remedy the occasion of this 
thumping, and the delay, which is always disagreeable, as 
soon as I have learned my steers to be handy, as it is called, 
and to draw forward, I place them on a cart where the 
land is descending in a small degree. In this situation they 
will soon learn with ease to back it ; then I place them on 
level land, and exercise them there; then I learn them to 
back a cart up land a little rising: the cart having no load 
in it thus far. When I have learned them to stand up to the 
tongue as they ought and back an empty cart, 1 next either 
put a small weight in the cart, or take them where the land 
rises faster, which answers the same purpose. Thus in Vk 
few days they can be learned to back well, and know how to 
do it, which by a little use afterwards they will never forget. 
This may appear of little consequence to some, but when it 
is remembered how frequently we want to back a load when 
we are at work with our cattle, and how commodious it often 
is to have our- cattle back well, why should we not feam 
them for the time when we want them thus to lay out their 
6* 



66 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

strength? Besides, it saves the blows and vexation often 
encountered, which is considerable when one is in haste. 
It is a merciful course towards our brutes. 1 never consider 
a pair of oxen well broke until they will back with ease any 
reasonable load, and I would give a very considerable sum 
more for a yoke of oxen thus tutored than for a yoke not 
thus trained." 

Oxen sometimes contract a bad habit of pulling or hauling 
against each other; and sometimes crowd each other, so as 
to render them almost entirely useless as laborers. It is said 
that by turning them out to feed in the yoke they will learn 
to move in concert, and thus be broken of the habits of pull- 
ing and crowding. 

In the " Transactions of the Society of Arts," the follow- 
ing mode of training oxen to the draught is recommended: 
" Put a broad strap round their necks, fasten one end to a 
large log of wood ; permit the ox to drag it about as he feeds 
in his pasture, before he is put in harness, by which his do- 
cility is much forwarded." If a yoke of oxen were fasten- 
ed to a heavy loaded sled or drag, placed in a pasture, and 
the oxen secured in such a manner that they could not cast 
or injure themselves, and the load were so heavy that they 
must act in concert to move it, they would soon learn to pull 
together, and be true to the yoke. Having eaten the grass 
within reach of their first location, they would of necessity 
unite their efforts to remove their load to a fresh spot, and 
would adopt for their motto, united we feed, divided we 
starve. 

Diseases of Cattle. Our limits will not admit of our being 
very copious under this head; but some of the most common 
ails to which cattle are subject shall be briefly treated of, 
and the remedies prescribed. 

Cattle are apt to be lioven or swollen, in consequence of 
having eaten too much green succulent food. The common 
remedy for this disorder has been, to stab the infected animal 
with a penknife or other "sharp instrument under the short 
ribs, and put into the orifice a tube of ivory, elder, a quill, 
'or something of the kind, to give vent to the confined air 
The wound is then dressed with some sort of adhesive plas- 
ter, such as Burgundy pitch, and thus in general the cure is 
efl^ected. This, however, according to " The Grazier's 
Guide," is a bad practice; a second attack becomes more 
difficult to cure, as the wound adheres to the side, and every 
repetition increases the danger. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 67 

The thirty-third volume of Young's " Annals of Agricul- 
ture/' prescribes the following recipe for hoven cattle, which 
it states will effect a cure in the most desperate cases in half 
an hour. Take three quarters of a pint of olive oil, one 
pint of melted butter or hog's lard ; give this mixture by 
means of a horn or bottle, and if it does not produce a fa- 
vorable change in a quarter of an hour, repeat the same 
quantity, and walk the animal gently about. For sheep at- 
tacked with this malady, the dose is from a wine-glass and a 
half to two wine-glasses. 

The following remedy for this complaint has also been re- 
commended. Make about a pint of lye, either with hot em- 
bers thrown into a sufficient quantity of water, or by dis- 
solving therein about an ounce of pot or pearl-ash, and turn 
it down the throat of the ox or cow affected. A propor- 
tionably less quantity will answer for a sheep. This is said 
to give immediate relief, by neutralizing the carbonic acid 
gas in the stomach of the animal, which causes the swelling 
and other symptoms of the complaint to subside. 

Besides these remedies, flexible tubes and canes, with 
knobs on their ends, tarred rope, whip handles, &c., have 
been used to force a passage from the mouth to the stomach, 
to let the confined air escape upwards from the trunk of the 
animal afTected. Descriptions of some of these instruments 
may be seen in " The Domestic Encyclopedia," (Vol. I. 
pp. 40r>, 410.) Loudon likewise observes, that "the flexi- 
ble tube for the relief of cattle that are hoven or choked, 
consists of a strong leathern tube, about four feet long and 
half an inch diameter, ^vith a leaden nozzle, pierced with 
holes at the insertion end. It should be kept in every farm- 
ery. There is a similar one, on a smaller scale, which should 
be kept by every shepherd." 

In turning cattle or sheep into fresh and rank clover or 
lucerne, care should be taken at first to let them remain but 
a short time when the grass is dry, and then turn them out 
again, that they may by degrees become accustomed to the 
rich herbage. 

Houf-oil, or Hoof Distemper. A writer for "The Massa- 
chusetts Agricultural Repository," (Vol. IV. p. 339,) gives 
some account of this disorder, from which we extract the 
following. 

" Sijinptoms. When an animal is at all lame, its foot 
should be carefully felt. The first indication is, usually, an 
uncommon degree of warmth, and a soft and putTcd feel of 



68 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

the parts immediately connected with the slit between the 
hoof, either before or behind the foot, and generally just 
above it. If in the hind foot, and not easily handled, a ful- 
ness may generally be perceived, by standing behind the 
animal, and carefully comparing the appearance of the two 
feet between the dew-claws and the hoofs, (for it very rarely 
commences its attack on more than one foot.) In the fore 
foot it generally swells forwaid; and in taking up the foot the 
slit between the hoofs will generally have the appearance of 
dryness, easily distinguishable to a person used to cattle ; 
and the animal frequently licks the front part of the foot. 
Instances frequently occur of sudden and extreme lameness, 
without any appearance of heat or swelling in the foot; and 
these are often the worst cases; but one symptom rarely 
fails to accompany the disease, which is extreme restlessness 
and appearance of anguish, attended with loss of appetite 
and flesh, but without in the least affecting the brightness ot 
the eye, and, perhaps, sometimes unnaturally increasing it; 
but the eye has a peculiar cast. As a general rule, it is 
safest to attribute all lameness of the foot which cannot be 
traced to a sufficient cause, to the hoof-ail. Lameness of the 
foot can generally be distinguished frotn that of the leg, hip, 
or shoulder, by making the animal step over a stick or rail, 
and carefully watching its motions. 

" Remedies. The foot should be carefully washed and 
cleansed, and thoroughly examined, to be sure that the lame- 
ness does not arise from a nail casually run into the foot, or 
a prick in shoeing, from a wound from a stump or other 
substance between the hoofs, (a case frequently occurring.) 
If no appearance occurs of any break in the skm, while the 
foot is still wet, apply as near as may be to the centre of the 
slit between the hoofs, from one to three grains of corrosive 
sublimate, (reduced to a fine powder,) the dose to be propor- 
tioned to the size of the animal and the violence of the at- 
tack. Care must be used that the powder is put completely 
in this slit, for it is a very strong poison, and the animal, as 
soon as at liberty, will begin to lick the foot if a sore one. 
The moisture left by the washing makes the powder adhere, 
and the eflTect is produced in a very short time. Some pre- 
fer mixing the powder with hog's lard, which answers ; but 
is thought less powerful : it has one advantage, however, as 
being less dangerous to keep in a house, (for no one takes 
ealve inwardly.) Where corrosive sublimate cannot be ob- 
tained, any other violent stimulant may be applied. Com- 



AND nURAL ECONOMIST. 69 

mon' salt is often efTectual in very slight attacks ; but it is 
of the greatest importance to lose no time. The application 
is to be repeated every twenty-four hours till a cure is effect- 
ed, or till the foot shows unequivocal signs of a gathering 
which will break." 

Loss of the Ciid. Rumination, or the chewing of the cud, 
is that motion of the rumex or first stomach by which the 
food is forced back into the mouth to be perfectly masticated. 
This motion is not sudden or violent, like that of vomiting ; 
but gradual and gentle, when the animal is healthy. When, 
therefore, an animal ceases to perform this essential act of 
digestion, it is an evident proof that the stomach is out of 
order; it may depend on the state of the first stomach, or 
it may proceed from the third. 

Loudon asserts, that although " loss of the cud enters into 
the list of most of cow leeches' diseases, it is less a disease 
than a symptom of some other affection ; indeed it is evident 
that any attack sufficient to destroy the appetite will, gene- 
rally, occasion the loss of the cud. It is possible, however, 
that an occasional local affection, or paralysis of the paunch, 
may occur, particularly when it is distended with unhealthy 
substances, as acorns, crab-apples, the tops of some of the 
woody shrubs, &c. The Irealnienl in such cases, consists in 
stimulating the stomach by tonics, aloes, pepper, and gin, 
mixed. Though these as liquids may not enter the stomach 
in common cases, yet in this disease or impaired action of 
the rumex they will enter there." 

Mr. Lawrence, an English writer, says, in loss of cud, 
" Let the animal fast some time, then give a warm bran or 
pollard mash, with good hay and warm water with salt, 
Tliis treatment alone may succeed with patience, even should 
the maw be obstructed with acorns or crab-apples. An aloes' 
tincture made with brandy and ginger, or capsicum [red 
pcpi)er], might be of use in this case. After conquering the 
ob.struction, bitter infusions made of camomile, hoarhound, 
oak bark, Stc. in beer may be required, as restoratives, al- 
though, perhaps, good dry nourishing food will have an 
equally good effect." 

Horn-ail, or Horn Distemper. In the spring, cattle which 
have been poorly kept through the winter, are subject to a 
wasting of the pith of the burn, which is usually called the 
horn distemper. It is sometimes in one horn only and some- 
times in both. The indications of the disease are, coldness 
of the horn, dulness of the eyes, sluggishness, want of 



70 THE COMPLETE FAUMEB 

appetite, and a disposition to lie down. When the brain is 
atiected, the animal will toss its head, groan, and exhibit 
indications of great pain. 

To cure the disease. Dr. Deane directed to bore a hole 
with a nail giinblet into the lower part of the horn, through 
which the foul jnattrr may be discharged. By this boring, 
which should be nearly horizontal, or in the depending part 
of tlie horn, and two or three inches from the head of the 
animal, the cure is sometimes completed. When it proves 
otherwise, a mixture of rum and honey with myrrh and aloes 
should be thrown into the horn, with a syringe, and be seve- 
ral times repeated if the disease continue. 

Lovett Peters, Esq. of Westborough, Massachusetts, in a 
communication published in "The New England Farmer," 
(Vol. VII. p. 194,) gives the following recipe for curing this 
disease, which he observes was furni.shed him by an aged 
friend, and successfully applied to " a cow taken with horn- 
ail to that degree that she had nearly sto])ped eating, and 
from giving a large quantity of milk had become nearly 
dry." 

"Take of salt one half-pint, of soot one half-pint, of 
black pepper one table-spoonful ; make all fine, and give 
one or two spoonfuls at a time, night and morning. It is 
easily done, by drawing the tongue out of the mouth with the 
hand, and putting the spoon as far down as it will reach; 
then let go the tongue, and keep up the nose, and it will all 
go down." Mr. Peters says, " I followed the directions, and 
in two days my cow was better ; and in a week was perfectly 
well. The same may not cure in all cases of horn-ail, as 
my informant said it would, but it is worth a trial." 

It should seem, iiowever, as Mr. Peters suggested, that 
the above-mentioned remedy is not infallible. Mr. Thomas 
JIazen, in a communication published in "The New Eng- 
land Farmer," (Vol. VII. p. ii34,) states, that he tried it 
without success ; but by the advice of a large owner of 
cattle, he freely applied spirits of turpentine to an ox in high 
flesh, but afflicted with the horn-ail, on the top of the head 
along the roots of the horns, for a number of days. The ox 
soon began to feed well, and in a few weeks was sold for 
market. It is a severe remedy, throwing the animal into 
extreme agony." 

Dr. Cooper, in tlie last Philadelphia edition of Willich's 
" Domestic Encyclopedia," directs. For llie hollow horn, 
saw off the diseased part ; dress with turpentine ; keep the 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 71 

animal warm, and do not starve him. It is a disease owing 
to want of food and exposure to cold. 

Remedy for CuHle when choked by Roots or other substmices. 
Mr. Joseph VVingate, of Maine, in a communication for 
"The New England Farmer," (Vol. III. page 57,) says, 
that every farmer should have a rope, which is to be put 
down into any anicnal's throat when choked with any hard 
substance, such as a turnip, potato, or an ear of corn. " I 
have used this rope, and never found the least difficulty in giv- 
ing immediate relief. Many cattle have died for the want of 
it, and many have been killed outright by using other means. 
Take an old tarred rope, six feet long. Let it be served 
[strongly wound round with twine], and, when finished, be 
one inch in diameter. When put down the throat it should 
be pushed gently down four feet and a half into a cow or an 
ox. In cold weather it is stiff enough, but in warm weather 
it should be wet with cold water belore it is used." 

Mr. E. Williams, of Westford, New York, in "The New 
England Farmer," (Vol. III. p. 81,) directs to an easier 
method to relieve this complaint : " It is merely to pour 
down the throat one quart of very strong soap suds. I have 
seen it tried in numerous instances, and invariably with the 
best effect. It affords instantaneous relief." 



BARNS. It is a common practice, and with many a 
general rule, to build a farm-house adjoining, and perhaps 
in contact with the sheds, barns, and other outhouses. 
When the buildings are thus all situated in one clump, if 
one takes fire, the whole will, probably, be consumed. Be- 
sides, it is disagreeable and unwholesome to live too near 
manure heaps, and as it were in the midst of your herds of 
cattle and swine. The barn should, therefore, be placed at 
a convenient distance from the dwellinghouse and other 
buildings, but as near as may be without danger of fire, or 
annoyance from the effluvia of manure heaps. Too low a 
spot will be miry in spring and fall. Too high an eminence 
will be inconvenient for drawing in loads, and on account of 
saving and making manure. If other circumstances permit, 
it may be best to place a barn in such a manner as to de- 
fend the dwellinchouse from the force of the coldest winds. 

The size of the barn should be proportionate to the (to- 
duce of the farm ; for in this country, where building is not 



72 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

expensive, all the hay and grain should be placed undei 
cover. It is a bad practice to leave hay in stacks, in the 
meadovvs where it is cut, to be there foddered out to the cat- 
tle in the course of the winter. By this mode of manage- 
ment the manure is almost lost. The ground under and 
near the stack receives some benefit from the droppings of 
the cattle, the litter, hay-seeds, &c. of the stack. But this 
benefit is trifling, as the sun, air, and rains, soon exhale and 
wash away the manure, which, being left on the surface of 
the soil, is soon given to the winds and the waters. 

The farmers of the older parts of Pennsylvania, generally, 
build very large barns, and to prevent the hay or grain from 
heating in a large mow, four poles or pieces of timber are 
set up in the middle, so as to form within them a square 
space of about two feet. The poles are braced by cross- 
pieces at certain distances. Through the aperture thus 
made, the extra moisture in the hay or grain has a chance to 
escaj)e, so as to prevent its being mow-burnt. Their barns 
are usually built of stone, and in the walls a large number 
of small holes are made for the admission of air. Their cat- 
tle are chiefly all housed, and their dung is under cover, 
when thrown out of the stables to prevent its being injured 
by the rains. The roofs of the barns are usually painted, 
to preserve them against the weather. 

" The floor of the barn should be kept tight, so that the 
grain cannot fall through in threshing ; and for this purpose 
it should have a layer of thin boards under it. It is most 
advisable also to have a place set apart in the barn for the 
purpose of storing away the grain after it is threshed. The 
bins for the grain should be made of hard plank, to prevent 
the rats and mice from eating through them, and should have 
lids, which can be fastened down with padlocks." — Farm- 
er's Assistant. 

The following description of a large barn built in the 
town of Hancock, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, by the 
family of Shakers located in that place, was originally 
published in the IMiddlctown (Conn.) " Sentinel." 

"The barn is built on ground inclining southwardly, in a 
perfect circle, and is ninety feet in diameter across it from 
side to side. The walls are of stone, twenty-two feet in 
height, of a suitable thickness, and laid in lime, and well 
pointed on each side. Round the barn, on the inner side, 
are stables, forming a circle, the manger within, and suit- 
able places over it to throw or feed down the hay ; the stable 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 73 

and manger occupy about twelve feet, and are eight feet 
high; the stables open to and from several different barn- 
yards, in order to make as many and such divisions of stock 
as thev have tliought proper. Tlie covering of the stables 
forms tlie barn floor, which also extends round the barn. 
There is but one large door-way lor entrance with teams and 
loads; this is from the northern side, from an offset or cause- 
way, eight feet above the base, and of course fourteen feet 
below tlie eaves. The cart or wagon that enters with a load 
makes the whole circuit of the floor, and after unloading 
comes out at the same door; thus eight or ten teams with 
their loads can occupy the floor at one time in unloading, 
and not hinder each other. Within this circle of the stables 
and barn floor is an area or bay, as it is usually called, 
which is filled with hay, Sec, which must be over sixty feet 
in diameter. This is pitched in and on frr»m any side or 
place most convenient, or where wanted. The roof comes 
to a point at the centre, and sheds off the rain all round, 
something similar to an umbrella. It is supported from the 
inner circle of the barn floor. The roof boards are laid up 
and down, which, by a transverse sav.ing of the log, were 
all brought to a point, and then shingled round in the usual 
mode." 

A writer for " The New England Farmer," whose com- 
munication was published, (Vol. III. p. 81,) describes "a 
barn of ordinary size, and the main part of it built in the 
usual shape, but a good deal neater and tighter. The bays 
were upon each side of the floor, and the bottoms of them 
were sunk eight feet below it. This gave room for a large 
quantity of hay below the floor. The large doors were to- 
wards the south, to admit the sun, when necessary, with a 
small door in one of the large ones to enter at, when the 
weather was windy and made it dangerous to open the 
large doors. Barns ought always to have a small door to 
use in the winter, when you must often be in and out. 
There were twelve squares of glass arranged over the door, 
to admit the light when the large doors were shut; besides a 
small window in each of the gable ends, very near the 
ridge, for the same purpose. Under the floor was a con- 
venient cellar, in which were kept potatoes^ and all kinds of 
vegetables for green fodder in the winter. The cellar was a 
very warm one, and well lighted with two windows. This 
cellar struck me as being the most useful apartment in the 
whole establishment. There you may keep as many turnips, 
7 



74 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

cabbages, potatoes, St.c., as you please, and they are always 
handy to fodder out in tho stable to your cattle; and the 
cattle need scarcely go out of the stable in a month. 

" The yard was well watered by an aqueduct, and a trough 
on the south side of the barn was kept always full. Upon 
the north or back side of the barn were the stables : they 
were built in one building, and joined to the main part, about 
twenty-five feet in width, thirty I'eet long, and twelve or four- 
teen feet high. A door led from the barn into it, besides 
another from without upon the east side, where the cattle 
■were admitted from the yard. A floor was laid overhead, 
at the distance of seven feet from the lower one. The stalls 
were arranged on each side of the building, so that the cat- 
tle stood with their heads towards the outside of the building, 
leaving a space in the middle to pass. 

" In foddering, the hay was pitched from the bay in the 
barn through a window, over the stables, and then put down 
into racks; very little hay could be wasted in this way, and 
the boys could be trusted with the foddering. The manure 
made in the stable was put down through the floor into 
another cellar, large enough to admit of a cart and team to 
take it away." 

A Report of the Committee on Farms, in the county of 
Essex, for the year 1824, states, that Colonel Moses iSew- 
hall, in West Newbury, " has lately built a barn, which, tor 
convenience and durability of construction, is worthy of 
much praise. It is calculated better for the farmer's use 
than any one we have seen. It is not too much to say, that 
during the haying season, the most busy season with the 
farmer, its superior conveniences will save at least the labor 
of one man on the farm. It is about eighty feet in length, 
thirty-four feet in width, and twenty feet post. It has two 
floors, one eight feet above the other; on the upper of which 
the hay is carried in." 

The Shakers of Harvard, Massachusetts, have built a 
barn, which is probably larger than any other structure of 
the kind in the United States. The dimensions are one hun- 
dred and Jifhi feel in lens^lh, and fori y -five in width. It is four 
stories in height, and the calculation is, to drive in on the 
upper floors, from the hill side, and pitch the hay down, 
thus rendering much hard labor easy. 

Barn-Yards. The following " Remarks on the Construc- 
tion and Management of Cattle Yards," are from the pen of 
Judge Buel, of Albany: 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST, 75 

"Vegetables, like animals, cannot thrive or subsist with- 
out food; and upon the quantity and quality of" this depends 
the health and vigor of the vegetable, as well as of the an- 
imal. Both subsist upon animal and vegetable matter, both 
may be surfeited with excess, both may be injured by food 
not adapted to their habits, their appetites, or their digestive 
■powers. A hog will receive no injury, but great benefit, 
from free access to a heap of corn or wheat, where a horse 
or cow will be apt to destroy themselves by excess. The 
goat will thrive upon the boughs and bark of trees, where 
the hog would starve. The powerful, robust maize will 
repay, in the increase of its grain, for a heavy dressing of 
strong dung; for which the more delicate wheat will requite 
you with very little but straw. The potato feeds ravenous- 
ly, and grows luxuriantly, upon the coarsest litter; while 
many of the more tender exotics will thrive only on food 
upon which fermentation has exhausted its powers. But 
here the analogy stops : f >r while the food of the one is 
consumed in a sound, healthy, and generally solid state, the 
food of the other, before it becomes aliment, must undergo 
the process of putrefaction or decomposition, and be reduced 
to a liquid or icritbrm state. 

" 1 liavegone into the analogy between animals and vege- 
tables thus far, to impress upon the minds of our farmers the 
importance of saving, and of applying the food of their vege- 
tables with the same care and economy that they do the 
food of their animals. How scrupulously careful is the good 
husbandman of tiie produce of his farm, destined to n>»urisli 
and latten his animals ; and yet how often careless of the 
food which can alone nourish and mature his plants: while 
his fields are gleaned, and his grain, hay, and roots carefully 
housed, and economically dispensed to his animals, the food 
of his vegetables is sutlered to waste on every part of his 
farm. Stercoraries we liave none. 'Ihe urine of the stock, 
which constitutes a moiety of the manure of animals, is all 
lost. The slovenly and wasteful practice of feeding at stacks 
in the fields, where the sole of the grass is broken, the fodder 
wasted, and the dung of little effect, is still pursued. And, 
finally, the little manure which does accumulate in the 
yards, is suffered to lie till it has lost full half of its fertiliz- 
ing properties, or rotted the sills of the barn; when it is 
injudiciously applied, or the barn removed to get clear of the 
nuisance. Again: none but a slothful farmer will permit the 
ilocks of his neighbours to rob his own of their food; yet 



76 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

he often sees, but vvitli feeble efforts to prevent "it, his plants 
smothered by pestiferous weeds, and plundered of the food 
which is essential to their health and vigor. A iveed con' 
suines as muck food as a tisejiil plant. This, to be sure, is 
the dark side of the picture; yet the original may be ibund 
in every town, and in almost every neighl)ourhood. 

" Is it surprising, that under such management, our arable 
grounds should grow poor, and refuse to labor its accustom- 
ed reward ? Can it be considered strange, that those who 
thus neglect to feed their plants should feel the evil of light 
purses, as well as of light crops ? Constant draining or 
evaporation, without returning any thing, would in time 
exhaust the ocean of its waters. A constant cropping of the 
soil, without returning any thing to it, will in like manner 
exhaust it of its vegetable food, and gradually induce steril- 
ity. Neither sand, clay, lime, or magnesia, which are the 
elements of all soils, nor any combination of part or all of 
them, is alone capable of producing healthy plants. It is 
the animal and vegetable matter a-cumulated upon its 
bosom, or which art deposits there with the auxiliary aid of 
these materials diii'used in the atmosphere, that enables the 
earth to teem with vegetable life, and yield its tribute to 
man and beast.'*- 

Judge Buel suggests tlie following cheap and practicable 
mode of providing food for 'Vt-n^etubtts ; 

" The cattle yard should be located on the south side of 
and adjoining the'barn. Sheds, substantial stone walls, or 
close board fencers, should Ue erected at least on the east and 
west sides, to shelter the cattle from cold winds and storms; 
the size proportioned to the stock to be kept iii it. Exca- 
vate the centre in a concave form, placing the eartli removed 
upon the edges or lowest sides, leaving the borders ten or 
twelve feet broad, of a horizontal level, to teed the stock up- 
on, and from two to five feet higher than the centre. This 
may be done with a plough and scraper, or .-hovel and hand- 
barrow, after the ground is broken up with the plough. 
When the soil is not sufficiently compact to hold water, the 
bottom should he bedded with six or eight inches of clay, 
well beat down, and covered with gravel or sand. This last 
labor is seldom required, except where the ground is very 
porous. Here should be annually deposited, as they can be 
conveniently collected, the weeds, coarse grass, and brakes 
of the farm; and also the pumpkin vines and potalo tops. 
And here also should be fjd out, or strewed as litter, the 



AND RURAL ECOXOMIST. 77 

hay, stalks, and husks of Indian corn, pea and bean haulm, 
and the straw of grain not wanted in ihe stables. To still 
further augment the mass, leached ashes and swamp earth 
may be added to advantage. These materials will absorb 
the liquid of the yard, atid, becoming incorporated with the 
e.\crementitiou3 matter, double or treble the ordinary quantity 
of manure. During the continuance of frost the excavation 
gives no inconvenience; and when the weather is soft, the 
borders aflord ample room lor the cattle. In this way, the 
urine is saved, and the waste incident to rains, &c. prevent- 
ed. The cattle should be kept constantly yarded in winter, 
except when let out to water, and the yard frequently re- 
plenished with dry litter. Upon this plan, from ten to twelve 
loads of unliermented manure may be obtained every spring 
for each animal; and if the stable manure is spread over the 
yard, the quality of the dung will be improved, and the 
quantity proportionably increased. Any excess of liquid 
that may remain after the dung is removed in the spring, 
cam be profitably applied to grass, grain, or garden crops. 
It is used extensively in Flanders, and in other parts of 
Europe. 

" Having explained my method of procuring and preserv- 
ing the food of vegetables, I will proceed to state my prac- 
tice in feeding or ai)plying it. It is given, every spring, 
to such hoed crops as will do well upon coarse food, (my 
vegetable hogs and goats.) These are corn, potatoes, ruta 
baga, beans, and cabbages. These consume the coarser 
particles of the manure, which would have been lost during 
the summer in the yard; while the plough, harrow, and hoe 
eradicate the weeds which spring from the seeds it scatters. 
The finer parts of the t'ood are preserved in the soil, to 
nourish the snmll grains which follow. The dung is spread 
upon the land as evenly as possible, and immediately turned 
under with the plough. It is thereby better distributed for 
the next crop, and becomes intimately mixed and incorpora- 
ted with the soil by subsequent tillage. Thus, upon the data 
which I feel warranted in assuming, a farmer who keeps 
twenty horses and neat cattle, will obtain from his yards and 
stables, every spring, two hundred loads of manure, besides 
what is made in summer, and the product of his hogstv. 
With this he may manure annually ten or twelve acres of 
corn, potatoes, &.c., and manure it well. And if a proper 
rotation of crops is adopted, he will be able to keep in good 
heart, and progressively to improve, sixty acres of tillage 
7* 



THE COMPLETE FARMER 



land, so that each field shall be manured once every four or 
five years, on the return of the corn and potato crop." 



DAIRY. The celebrated Arthur Young has the follow- 
ing remarks on this subject : 

" Unless the farmer has a very diligent and industrious 
wife, who sees minutely to her dairy, or a most honest, dili- 
gent, and careful housekeeper to do it for him, he will assur- 
edly lose money by his dairy; trusted to common servants, 
it v/ill not pay charges. The dairymaid must be up every 
morning at four o'clock, or she will be backward in her 
business. At five the cows must be milked, and there must 
be milkers enough to finish by six. The same rule must be 
observed in the evening. 

" In making butter, the dairymaids are particularly atten- 
tive to one circumstance, that there must be a certain pro- 
portion of sour in the cream, either natural or artificial, or 
they cannot insure a good churning of butter; some keep a 
little of the old cream for that purpose; others use a little 
runnet; and some a little lemon juice." 

In order to determine which cow's milk is best for cream, 
it has been recommended to let the milk of each be put by 
itself, and churn each separately. 

The properties requisite in a dairy-house are, that it be 
cool in summer and moderately warm in winter, so as to 
preserve nearly the same temperature throughout the year, 
which, according to Loudon, should be about tbrty-five de- 
grees. A northern exposure, as much under the shade of 
trees as possible, is to be preferred. A well-constructed but- 
ter dairy, says Loudon, should consist of three apartments; 
a milk house, a churning house, with proper boiler, as well 
as other conveniences for scalding and washing the imple- 
ments, and a room to keep them in, and for drying and air- 
ing them, when the weather will not permit of its being done 
without doors. The cheese dairy should likewise consist of 
three apartments : a milk house, a scalding and pressing 
house, and a salting house. To these should be added a 
cheese room, or loft, which may with great propriety be 
made above the dairy. This is, however, generally separate 
from the dairy. But a milk dairy requires only a good 
milk house, and a room for scalding, cleaning, and airing 
the utensils. 

A dairy for the private use of any farmer or family need 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 79 

not be large, and may very economically be formed in a 
thick-walled dry cellar, so situated as to have windows on 
two sides ; the north and east in preference for ventilation ; 
and in order thai these windows may the better exclude cold 
in winter and heat in summer, they should be fitted with 
double sashes; and on the outside ol' the outer sash should 
be a tixed frame of close wire netting or haircloth, to 
exclude Hies and other insects.* 

On jMaliing and Preserving Builer. The dairy-house 
should be kept neat, should not front the south, southeast, 
or southwest. An apartment in a sweet and well-ventilated 
cellar will answer a good purpose to keep milk and cream 
in. Cheeses should not be set to dry in the same room 
where your milk is set, for they conununicate an acid matter 
to the surrounding air, which will have a tendency to make 
the milk sour. The milk room and cheese room should 
therefore be separate apartments. It will be well to place 
your milk room, if possible, over a spring or brook, near the 
dwellinghouse; and you "may have a stone floor, and chan- 
nels in the floor to pass the water round near the inside of 
the walls. Into these channels the pans may be set, filled 
with milk, and surrounded by water. It' water could be in- 
troduced into the milk room so as to fall from some height 
on the pavement, it would likewise prove advantageous, as 
the waterfall and the evaporation it causes will contribute to 
preserve the air continually pure, fresh, and cool. As the 
milk itself when brought in warm will naturally tend to raise 
the temperature of the milk room too high, it is recommend- 
ed to have an ice-house attached to the dairy, especially 
where the advantage of a current of water cannot be obtain- 
ed. An ice-house would prove still more profitable if the 
dairy be situated near large towns, where the ice could be 
sold in suimner. According to Dr. Deane, the temperature 
of the milk room should be from fifty to fit\y-five degrees of 
Fahrenheit's thermometer; and " 'I'he Complete Grazier" 
says, " Where the temperature of the milk room has be- 
come affected by the carrying of newly drawn milk into it, 
it may be easily reduced to the proper temperature by sus- 
pending a small quantity of ice at a considerable height from 
the floor; and if, during winter, the cold should become too 
great, a barrel of hot water closely stopped, or a few hot 

*" For seveiril different plans of ilairv-liouses, see Loudon's " Encyclopaedia 
of Agriculture," Par. 6330, &c. 



80 THE COMPLETE PARMER 

bricks placed on the floor or table of the milk room, will 
readily counteract its effects. But on no account whatever 
should a chaling-dish with burning coals be used, as it will 
certainly impart a bad taste to the milk." 

The proper receptacles for milk are tin or earthen pans, 
not glazed nor lined with lead, or wooden trays. Lead, 
copper, or brass utensils, as well as earthenware vessels 
glazed with lead, ought on no pretext whatever to be used; 
ibr the aci<l which is contained in n)ilk combines with these 
metals, and forms a poisonous compound with them. Sir 
John Sinclair recommends vessels made of cast iron, soften- 
ed by annealing them in charcoal, so that they will not break 
by an ordinary fall, turned sniouth in the inside, and laid 
over with a coat of tin, to prevent the iron from coming in 
contact with the milk. These milk dishes are stated to be 
kept more easily clean than wooden vessels; and their su- 
perior power of conducting heat cools the milk so rapidly, 
that the Scottish farmers' wives, who have given them a lair 
trial, affirm that they throw up one third more cream from an 
equal quantity of milk.* Cast-iron vessels, without being 
tinned, would give no poisonous quality to the milk, but they 
might render the produce of the dairy unpalatable. 

"All dairy utensils ought to be most carefully scoured, 
first with hot water, and afterwards rinsed with cold, and 
kept in an airy place, in order that every possible degree of 
acidity may be removed. Should one or two scourings be 
insufficient, they must be repeatedly cleansed until they be- 
come entirely sweet, as the slightest taint or acidity may 
cause material loss."")" Slate, according to some accounts, 
makes very good milk coolers, and perhaps freestone might 
answer as well. 

The quality and quantity of cows' milk greatly depends 
on the nature of their food. Potatoes, carrots, and parsnips 
are recommended as causing cows to give excellent milk; 
and mangel-wurtzel is highly spoken of for the same pur- 
pose. Cabbages, if sound, answer an excellent purpose, but 
the decayed leaves give a bad taste to the milk. It is 
thought best to milk cows three times a day if fully fed, and 
great caution should be exercised by the persons employed 
to draw the mijk from them completely, not only to increase 
the quantity of produce, but to preserve its quality. Any 
portion which may be left in the udder seems gradually to be 

* Agricultural Report of Scotland. f Tl'e Complete Grazier. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 81 

absorbed into the system, and no more is formed than 
enough to supply the loss of what is taken away; and by the 
continuance otthe same mode a yet further diminution takes 
phice, until at length scarcely any is produced. This last 
mode of milking is practised when it is intended to render a 
cow dry. 

" After the milk is drawn from the cow, it should be care- 
fully strained through a linen cloth or a hair sieve, (Dr. An- 
derson prefers a sieve made of silver wires, on account of its 
su|H;rior wholesomeness,) into the cream dishes, which 
should never exceed three inches in depth, though they may 
be made so wide as to contain any (juantity required, and 
which ought to be perfectly clean, sweet, and cool. If any 
ill Havor is apprehended from the cows having eaten turnips, 
Stc, the addition of one eighth part of boiling water to the 
milk before it is poured into the dishes will effectually 
remove it.* When filled, the dishes ought to be set upon 
shelves or dressers, there to continue till the cream is re- 
moved. This should be steadily done by means of a skim- 
ming dish, if possible, without spilling any upon the floor, 
because it will speedily taint the air of the room; and the 
cream poured into a vessel, till enough be obtained for 
churning." 

The " Farmer's Assistant " judiciously observes, " If new 
milk be kept as warm as when it comes from the cow, no 
cream will rise on it ; but when sulbciently cooled, the 
cream separates from the rest and rises to the top. In order 
the+i to effect this to the best advantage, the new milk should 
be made as cool as possible, and the cooler it is thus made 
the mare suddenly and eliectually the cream will rise. To 
set milkpans made of tin in beds of salt would no doubt be 
useful, where the cellar is too warm; and to set all milk ves- 
sels on a floor which is constantly covered with cold spring 
water is also an excellent plan." 

The following remarks relative to the best mode of mak- 



* Mr. Yoiin^ lias recommended the dairyman to boil two ounces of nitre 
in one qunrt of wiiter, and to Ijo'tle (lie niixlure; of uliirli, wiien cold, a 
large tea-cnpfiil is to Ije added to ten or twelve (|u;irts of milk as socm as it 
conies from the cow. The qnantity of saltpetre is to be increased as the 
turnips become stronger. The feeding of cows with the roots alone will, as the 
earl of Egreinunt fouml, prevent the milk from having a bad taste. Another 
meiliod (»f removing any ill flavor arising from the cows Inving eaten tui nips, 
consists in warming the cream, and afterwards pnining it into a vessel of 
cold water; from which the cream is to be skimmed as it rises to the surface, 
and ih.is the unpleasant taste will be left lx;hind in the water. 



82 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

ing butter, are chiefly derived from Dr. Anderson's valuable 
Essay on that subject. 1. The milk first drawn from a cow 
is always thinner, and inferior in quality to that afterwards 
obtained; and this richness increases gradually to the very 
last drop that can be drawn from the udder. 2. The portion 
of cream rising first to the surface is richer in quahty and 
greater in quantity than that which rises in the second equal 
space of time, and so of the rest, the cream decreasing and 
growing worse as long as it rises at all. 3. Thick milk pro- 
duces a smaller proportion of cream than that which is thin- 
ner, thougli the cream of the former is of a richer quality. 
If thick milk therefore be diluted with water, it will afibrd 
more cream than it would have yielded in its pure state, 
though its quality will at the same time be inferior. 4. 
Milk carried about in pails, or other vessels, agitated and 
partly cooled before it is put into the milkpans, never throws 
up such good and plentiful cream as if it had been put into 
proper vessels immediately after it came from the cow. 

From these fundamental facts, the Doctor deduces, in sub- 
stance, the following rules : 

1. The cows should be milked as near the dairy as possi- 
ble, to prevent the necessity of carrying and cooling the 
milk betbre it be put into the dishes; and as cows are much 
hurt by far driving, it nmst be a great advantage in a dairy 
farm to have the principal grass fields as near the dairy or 
homestead as possible. In this point of view, also, the prac- 
tice of feedinii cows in the house, rather than turning them 
out to pasture in the field, must be obviously beneficial. * 

2. i he practice of putting the milk of all the cows of a 
large dairy into one vessel, as it is milked, there to remain 
till the whole milking be finished, before any part is put into 
the milkpans, seems to be highly injudicious, not only on 
account of the loss sustained by the agitation and cooling, 
but also, the more especially, because it prevents the owner 

* Mr. Lawrence, in his " Treatise on Cattle," observes, that " it is stated 
bv theoretical writers, that to feed cows in the home stall increases their 
qiiantily of milk ; a fact which varions experiments ciinipe! me to disprove. 
With nie it has ever had the eflect of adding to the suhslance of the animal, 
and of diminishing the quantity of her milk ; probably from defect of the 
exercise she was wont to take in collecting her food, and the selection of herb- 
age she was enabled to make." Tliis writer, however, is of opinion, that 
" the aggiegate qnantity of milk in a dairy may be enlarged by keeping 
pastures free from the tread of the cows, since a greater number may be kept, 
pel haps by one third, on the same extent of ground; at the same time the ani 
jmals may be secured from the harassing and debilitating eftects of the sun and 
flicj-," 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 83 

of the dairy from distinguishing the good from the bad cow's 
milk, so as to enlighten his judgment respecting the profit 
that he may derive from each. Without this precaution, he 
may have the whole of his dairy produce greatly debased by 
the milk of one bad cow for years together, without being 
able to discover it. A better practice, therefore, would be 
to have the milk drawn from each cow separately put into 
the creaming pans as soon as milked, without being ever 
mixed with any other ; and if these pans were all made of 
such a size as to be able to contain tbe whole of one cow's 
milk, each in a separate pan, the careful dai* would thus be 
able to remark, without any trouble, the quantity of milk 
afforded by each cow, every day, as well as the peculiar 
qualities of the cow's milk. And if the same cow's milk 
were always to be placed on the same part of the shelf, hav- 
ing the cow's name written beneath, there never could be 
the smallest difhculty in ascertaining which of the cows it 
would be for the owner's interest to dispose of, and which he 
ought to keep and breed from. 

3. If it be intended to make butter of a venj fne qnalUy, 
it will be advisable, not only to reject entirely the milk of all 
those cows which yield cream of a bad quality, but also, in 
every case, to keep the milk that is first drawn from the cow 
at each milking entirely separate from that vvhichis got last: 
as it is obvious, if this be not done, the quality of the butter 
must be greatly debased, without adding much to its quanti- 
ty. It is also obvious, that the quality of the butter will be 
in)proved in proportion to the smallness of the quantity of 
the last drawn milk which is used, as it increases in richness 
to the very last drop that can be drawn from the udder at 
that time ; so that those who wish to be singularly nice will 
do well to keep for their best butter a very small proportion 
of the last drawn milk. 

Dr. Anderson proceeds to state in substance, that in the 
Highlands of Scotland the common practice is to let the calf 
suck till the dairymaid judges that it has had enough ; it is 
then separated, the legs of the mother having been previous- 
ly shackled by a very simple contrivance, to oblige her to 
stand still, and the dairymaid milks off what is left by the 
calf In this way, he observes, the Highland butter has 
been greatly celebrated as the " richest marrowy butter 

* A provincial word, denoting the person who has the chief concern in a 
dairy. 



84 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

which can anywhere be met with." The milk which is 
first drawn, and consequently ot" inferior quality, may be 
converted into an inferior kind of butter, suld sweet, or made 
into cheeses, which, by being made of sweet milk, if made 
with care and skill, may be of fine quality. 

Churning ought to be regularly continued till the butter 
comes, or is formed. If the motion in summer be too quick, 
the butter will, in consequence, ferment, and become ill- 
tasted ; and, in winter, it will «•» brick. Churning, it is said, 
may be made easier by putting the bottom of the pump churn 
about one foot deep into a vessel of cold water, and continu- 
ing it there till the butter is made. The addition of one or 
two table-spoonfuls of distilled vinegar, after churning 
awhile, will, it is said, produce butter much sooner, in many 
instances, than it can be formed without such addition. 

Some writers advise to wash the butter, after it is formed, 
thoroughly in several waters, fill all the milk is removed. 
Dr. Anderson, however, advises to force the milk out of the 
cavities of the butter by means of a flat, wooden ladle, fur- 
nished with a short handle, at the same time agitating the 
butter as little as possible, lest it become tough and gluey. 
" The beating up of butter," he observes, " by the hand, is 
an indelicate practice, particularly if it be constitutionally 
warm; and as it is hurtful to the quality of the butter to pour 
cold water on it during this operation, the butter, if too soft 
to receive the impression of the mould, may be put into 
small vessels, and there be permitted to float in a trough of 
cold water beneath the tal)le, irilhoul loellini!:; //it bulltr, which 
will soon become sufficiently firm. Or, when butter is first 
made, after as much of the milk has been got out as possi- 
ble, it may be thinly spread on a marble slab, and the re- 
maining moisture he absorbed by i)atting it with clean dry 
towels." 

It is said, in Bordley's " Husbandry," that "dashing in 
water, and then, without pause, clearing the butter from 
every particle of the water, is widely ditl'erent from washing 
butter by kneading and letting it remain at all in the wafer. 
Very good butter for flavor, color, and consistence, is made 
by one who washes it twice, but never lets it remain in the 
water a moment." Another butter-maker says, mix the salt 
in the butter in the evening, and let it rest till morning, then 
work out the liquor, but never let it be once touched with water. 

Dr. Anderson remarks, that a considerable degree of 
strength as well as dexterity is required in the working of 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 85 

butter. The thing wanted is, to force out the milk entirely, 
with as little tawing [working] of the butter as possible, ibr 
if the milk be not entirely taken away, the butter will spoil 
in a short time; and if it be much worked the butter will 
become tough and gluey, which greatly debases its quality. 

Before you put butter into the vessels which are to contain 
it, great care must be taken that they be well seasoned by 
frequent washing and exposure to the air for two or three 
weeks. As it is dillicult to season new firkins, it will ahvays 
be preferable to employ those which liave been used. The 
most speedy method of seasoning tirkins is by the use of un- 
slacked lime, or a large quantity of salt and water, well 
boiled, with which they should be repeatedly scrubbed, and 
afterwards thrown into cold water, to remain there three or 
four days, till wanted. They should then be scrubbed as 
before, and well rinsed with cold water; and before the but- 
ter is put in, every part of the inside of the. firkin must be 
well rubbed with salt. 

Butter may be salted by working into it one or two ounces 
of salt, after the buttermilk has been forced out. The salt 
should be thoroughly incorporated, and be of the best and 
purest quality. Dr. Anderson, however, recommends the 
following preparation, which he has experienced to be much 
superior, as it not only prevents the butter from becoming in 
any degree rancid, but also improves its appearance, and im- 
parts a sweeter and richer taste than could be given by com- 
mon salt only. For every pound of butter take half an 
ounce of best common salt, one quarter of an ounce of loaf 
sugar, and one quarter of an ounce of saltpetre; beat and 
blend the whole completely together. Butter thus cured, 
should stand three or four weeks before it is used, that the 
salts may be well mixed. The best butter is made in sum- 
mer, but by adding a certain portion (which experience 
alone can determine) of the juice expressed from the pulp of 
carrots to the cream previously to churning, winter-made 
butter will thus acquire the ai)pearance and flavor of butter 
that has been churned during the prime part of the summer 
season. 

A writer for "The Journal of Humanity " gives the fol- 
lowing rules for making good butter. " If you have four or 
five cows, it is best to churn every day ; and by no means 
less frequently than every other day. If you cannot churn 
every day, throw into the cream, when gathered, a handful 
of nice salt. In very warm weather, when milk sours soon, 
8 



86 THE COMrLETE FARMEtt 

put two heaping table-spoonfuls of salt into every pail of 
milk before straining. The quantity as well as the quality 
of the butler is greatly improved by this method. If you 
have ice, put a small piece in every pan of milk, and also 
into the cream when you churn. If you have no ice, put 
the cream into a pail, and hang it in the well twelve 
hours before churning. In the warm season, cream should 
be skimmed as soon as it is in the least sour, and in the 
coldest weather, milk should not stand more than thirty-six 
oi" forty-eight hours. The utmost care should be taken to 
keep every article used in making butter perfectly sweet, by 
frequent and thorough scalding." 

A writer for " 'J'he New England Farmer," (Vol. VI. p. 
S70,) observed as follows : 

" It does not, in my opinion, improve the butter to have 
the milk sour before the cream is gathered; but at this sea- 
son of the year [June] it can hardly be prevented. It 
should, however, never be suffered to stand till the milk cur- 
dles. When the cream is gathered it should be set in an 
open vessel, where the air can have free access to its sur- 
face; and during the time that the cream is gathering for a 
churning of butter, it should have a stick or spoon kept in 
the vessel where the cream is, by which the cream should be 
stirred at least half a dozen times a day, enough to n)i.\ it 
up well, and bring a new portion of it to the air; and it 
should stand before the window of the milk room, or some 
other, the most airy position afforded by the room. When 
you have gathered a mess for this season of the year, till 
your churn over night with cold water, and empty it in the 
morning. Put in your cream and churn it with a regular, 
steady, and not too rapid motion. It will generally come in 
from ten to tvventy minutes, and when fetched it needs no 
coloring matter. 

" 1 know that women say flies will get into the cream if 
left uncovered; let them get in, and pick them out, rather 
than cover up the vessel containing the cream.* 

"The windows to milk rooms, in many houses, are not 
sutficiently large, with from i'nur to eight small panes of 
glass. This affords too stinted a portion of air. If your 
glass is small, you want a twenty-four lighted window to 

* Perliaps a covering of anme, inilliiiRt, or other light and porous eubstance, 
or a till perforated with sinall huleij, might admit air and exclude the flies.— 
Edilur, 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 87 

the milk room, with blinds to exclude the sun. If two 
such windows, so situated as to afford a draught of air, the 
better. But stint your milk room of air, and keej) the cream- 
pot covered tight to exclude Hies, and your butter will be 
wliilf and billcr, besides being a long while coming " 

JV/(AJ/io- BtiKcf in fVihler. A friend has furnished us with 
the foil )wing observations on this subject: 

" In February, 18i3, I spent a tew days with Dr. JoneSj 
who lives near Hyco Bridge, in Halifax County, Virginia. 
Mrs. Jones prepares her cream for churning by heating the 
milk after it has stood twelve or twenty-four hours. 

" She places it over coals the evening before churning, 
until the milk as it stands with the cream on is heated ready 
to boiling, when she sets it by till morning. The cream is 
then skimmed off, and churned by stirring in an earthen 
vessel. The butter is delicately white and clear in its com- 
plexif)n, firm, and fine flavored. 

"This process would, no doubt, prove more successful in 
any part of New England, since the climate of Virginia is 
generally less favorable to the dairy than that of the eastern 
States." 

From the same pen we are favored with the following: 

Garlic in Butter. " VV^hen milk has the flavor of garlic, 
or wild onion, add a quart of boiling water to each gallon, 
and set it away in vessels, having the bottom covered the 
thickness of an inch only with milk. The cream that rises 
will be sweet and free from any disagreeable flavor." 

L. Peters, Esq. of Westborough, Alassaciiusetts, says, 
relative to making winter butter, " My wile's method is, to 
set the vessels in which the cream is collected near the fire 
a while before it is put into the churn, and frequently stir it 
a little, and turn the vessels, that it may be warmed equally, 
till it is as warm as cream in the summer, as near as she can 
judge; and before putting it into the churn, that is scalded 
with scalding water. When the churning commences, it is 
done moderately, and if there is any frothy appearance, then 
warm water is put in, the churn put near the fire, and 
occasionally turned, till the temperature is altered, and the 
churning is finished, which is generally in a short time. If 
a dash churn is used, set it into a tub of h(^t water, and fre- 
quently move the dash a little, to mix the warm and cold 
cream, till it is of a suitable warmth, which an observing 
person will soon ascertain by practice." — JVew Eni^land 
Farmer, Vol, VI. p. 370, 



88 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

A valuable paper on the making of butter in cold weather, 
by the Rev. W. Allen, states the results of several trials, by 
which it appears that butter may be obtained in the coldest 
weather within from ten to twenty minutes, if the cream at 
the commencement of the churnincj is brought to the tem- 
perature of about seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit. 

E. H. Derby, Esq. of Salem, Massachusetts, recommends 
the making of butler by the aid of frost, as follows: 

" The milk when taken from the cows is immediately 
•.strained into earthen pans, and set in the coldest part of the 
house; as soon as the frost begins to operate, a separation 
lakes place, the cream rises in a thick paste to the top, and 
leaves the milk, without a particle of cream, frozen in the 
pan. The cream is not so hard but that it can be easily 
scraped off with a spoon, to the solid ice; it is then set aside 
until a sufficient quantity is collected for churning, when 
it is warmed just so much as to thaw the cream sufficiently 
to put it into the churn. I have never known it to require 
more than five minutes to convert such cream into butter, 
after the churninj: had commenced." 



CHEESE, — Method ofm(ikin<r. " The milk is universal- 
ly set fpr cheese as soon as it comes from the cow. 

"The management of the curd depends on the kind of 
cheese: thin cheese requires the least labor and attention. 

" Breaking the curd is done with the hand and dish. The 
finer the curd is broken tiie better, particularly in thick 
cheeses. The best color of this kind of cheese is that of 
bees-wax, which is produced by annotta, rubbed into the 
milk after it is warmed. The dairywoman is to judge of 
the quality by the color of the milk, as it differs much in 
strength. The ruiuiet is prepared by taking some whey 
and salting till it will bear an egg; it is then suffered to 
stand over night, and in the morning it is skimmed and rack- 
ed off clear; to this is added an equal quantity of water 
Drine, strong as the whey, and into this mixture some sweet- 
briar, thyme, or some other sweet herbs; also a little black 
pepper and saltpetre; the herbs are kept in the brine three 
or four days, after which it is decanted clear from them. 
Into six quarts of this liquor four large calves' bags, or, more 
properly called calves' stomachs, are put. No part of the 
preparation is heated, and frequently the calves' bags are 
only steeped in cold salt and water. Turning the milk dif- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 89 

fers in different dairies, no two dairywomen conducting ex- 
actly alike. 

" Setting the milk too hot inclines the cheese to heave, and 
cooling it with cold water produces a similar effect. The 
degree of heat varies according to the weather. The curd 
when Ibrtned is broken with what is called a treple cheese 
knife. The use of this is to keep the fat in the cheese. It 
is drawn the depth of the curd two or three times across the 
tub, to give the whey an opportunity of running off clear; 
after a tew minutes the knife is more freely used, and the 
curd is cut into small pieces like checkers, and is broken 
fine iu the whey with the hand and a wooden dish. The 
curd being allowed about half an hour to settle, the whey is 
laded off with the dish, after it is pretty well separated from 
the curd. 

"It is an almost invariable practice to scald the curd. 
The mass is first broken very line, and then the scalding 
whey is added to it and stirred a few minutes; some make 
use of hot water in preference to whey, and it is in both 
cases heated according to the nature of the curd; if it is 
soft, the whey or water is used nearly boiling; but if hard, 
it is only used a little hotter than the hand. After the curd 
is thoroughly mixed with the hot stuff, it is suffered to stand 
a few minutes to settle, and is then separated as at the first 
operation. After the scalding liquor is separated, a vat, or 
what is often called a cheese hoop, is laid across the cheese 
ladder over the tub, and the curd is crumbled into it with the 
hands, and pressed into the vat, to squeeze out the whey. 
'J'he vat being filled as full and as firmly as the hand alone 
can fill it, and rounded up in the middle, a cheese cloth is 
spread over it, and the curd is turned out of the hoop into 
the cloth; the vat is then washed, and the inverted mass of 
curds, with the cloth under it, is returned into the vat and 
put into the press; after standing two or three hours in the 
press, the vat is taken out, and the cloth is taken off, wash- 
ed, and put round the cheese, and it is replaced in the vat 
and in the press. In about seven or eight hours it is taken 
out of the press and salted, the cheese is placed on a board, 
and a handful of salt is rubbed all over it, and the edges are 
pared off if necessary ; another handful of salt is strewed 
on the upper side, and as much left as will stick to it; after- 
wards it is turned into the bare vat without a cloth, and an 
equal quantity of salt is added to it, and the cheese is return- 
ed into the press; here it continues one night, and the next 
8* 



90 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

morning it is turned in the vat, and continues till the suc- 
ceeding morning, and the curd is taken out and placed on 
the dairy shell': here they are turned every day or every 
other day, as the weather may be. If it is hot and dry, the 
windows and daor are kept shut; but if wet or moist, the 
door and windows are kept open night and day." 

Cleaning- the Cheese. "The cheeses having remained 
about ten days after leaving the press, are to be washed and 
scraped in the following manner: a large tub of cold sweet 
whey is placed on the floor, the cheeses are immersed in it, 
where they continue one hour, or longer, if necessary, to 
soften the rind. They are then taken out and scraped with 
a common case-knife, with great care, so as not to injure the 
tender rind, till every part of the cheese is smooth ; they 
are after the last operation rinsed in the whey and wiped 
clean with a coarse cloth, and placed in an airy situation 
to dry, after which they are placed in the cheese room. 
The floor of the cheese room is generally prepared by rub- 
bing it with bean or potato tops, or any succulent herb, till 
it appears of a black wet color. On this floor the cheeses 
are placed, and turned twice a week; their edges are wiped 
hard with a cloth once a week, and the floor is cleansed and 
rubbed with fresh herbs once a fortnight. They must not lie 
too long or they will stick to the floor. This preparation of 
the floor gives the cheese a blue coat, which is considered 
of great consequence." 

Stilton Cheese, how made. *' The Stilton cheese, which 
may be called the Parmesan of England, is not confined to 
Stilton and its vicinity, for many farmers in Huntingdon- 
shire, and also in Rutland and Northamptonsbire, make a 
similar sort, sell them for the same price, and give them the 
name of the Stilton cheeses. 

" Take the night's cream and put it into the morning's 
new milk with the runnet ; when the curd is separated, let 
it not be broken, as is done with other cheese, but take it 
out, disturbing it as little as possible, and suffer it to dry 
gradually in a sieve ; and as the whey separates, compress 
it gradually till it has acquired a firm consistence ; then 
place it in a wooden hoop, and suffer it to dry very gradual- 
ly on a board, taking care at the same time to turn it daily 
with close binders round, and which must be tightened as 
the cheese acquires more solidity." 

Cheese, Skippers in. "Wrap the cheese in thin brown 
paper, so thin that moisture may strike through soon ; dig a 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 91 

hole in good sweet eartli about two feet deep, in which the 
cheese must be buried about thirty-six hours, and the skip- 
pers will 1)6 found ail on the outside of the cheese ; brush 
them off immediately, and you will find your cheese sound 
and good." 

To prevent Cheese having a rancid, naustous flavor. " Put 
about one table-spoonful of salt to each gallon of milk, when 
taken from the cows in the evening, for the cheese to be 
made the next day ; put the salt at the bottom of the vessel 
that is to receive the milk ; it will increase the curd, and 
prevent the milk from growing sour or putrid, the hottest 
nights in summer." — Massackusells Agncullural Repository. 

[The followinor is from the pen of a friend, to whom we are indebted for 
several valuable articles, written expressly for this work.]. 

" To make Cheese. A person whose dairy enjoys a high 
reputation gives the following directions for making cheese : 

'• 'Take a gallon and a half of water and throw into it a 
pint and a half of common salt. Boil and skint it, and add 
three or four ounces of rose leaves. After it is sufficiently 
steeped, let it cool, and put in one ounce of saltpetre and 
four runnets. A great-spoonful of this preparation is enough 
to turn fifteen gallons of milk. When the curd is made, dip 
it out carefully, and put it into a cloth that sits in a vessel 
with its bottom perforated with holes. Let a person on each 
side of the cloth take up the corners, and raise the curd 
carefully, and turn it from one side to the other in the cloth, 
in order to the better draining off the whey ; then lay it as 
before, in a vessel perforated with holes, and thus turn it 
once in fifteen or twenty minutes, and in the intervals place 
a follower upon it, with a stone above ; cutting the curd 
through each time. When the whey is out, season it with 
salt to suit your palate, while cutting it up in small pieces 
with a suitable knife ; then put it up for pressing. Let it 
stand under thirty or forty pounds' weight twenty-four hours, 
and then turn it, and let it stand twenty-four hours more un- 
der the same. A severe pressure, which is sometimes given, 
spoils a rich cheese entirely. 

" ' Set your cheese in closets made for the purpose, which 
flies cannot enter, 

" ' The outside may be rubbed with a mixture of butter 
and Spanish brown, which answers very well, but other 
mixtures may answer equally well. 

" ' A small quantity of otter, say the size of a kernel of 
rye, sewed up in a cloth, may be put in each curd. 



92 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

*' ' Never wash out your cheese clotli with soap, but boil 
it out in whey.' " 



HEMP. The following essay on the culture of Hemp, by 
Hon. Henry Clay, was originally pubhshed in " The West- 
ern Agriculturist." It is a complete treatise on the best 
manner of raising and preparing an article, which always 
commands cash sufficient to reward liberally the cultivator 
who proceeds correctly in obtaining this valuable product. 
The author of the essay is not less favorably known as a 
statesman than as a practical and scientific agriculturist, and 
his name will give it that weight and currency with Ameri- 
can farmers which is due to its intrinsic excellence. 

" 'J'he preparation of the ground for sowing the seed is by 
the plough and horses, until the clods are sufficiently pul- 
verized or dissolved, and the surface of the field is rendered 
even and smooth. It should be as carefully prepared as if 
it were for flax. This most important point, too often neg- 
lected, cannot be attended to too much. Scarcely any oth- 
er crop better rewards diligence and careful husbandry. Fall 
or winter ploughing is practised with advantage ; it is indis- 
pensable in old meadows, or old pasture grounds, intended 
for producing hemp. 

" Plants for seed are ordinarily reared in a place distinct 
from that in which they are cultivated for the lint. In this 
respect, the usage is different from tliat which is understood 
to prevail in Europe. The seeds which are intended to re- 
prt>duce seeds for the crop of the next year, are sowed in 
drills about four feet apart. When they are grown suffi- 
ciently to distinguish between the male and female stalks, 
the former are pulled and thrown away, and the latter are 
thinned, leaving the stalks separated seven or eight inches 
from each other. This operation is usually performed in 
the blooming season, when the sexual character of the plants 
is easily discernible ; the male alone blossoming, and, when 
agitated, throwing off farina, a yellow dust or flour, which 
falls and colors the ground, or any object that comes in con- 
tact with it. A few of the male plants had better be left, 
scattered through the drill, until the larina is completely dis- 
charged, for an obvious reason. Between the drills a plough 
is run sufficiently often to keep the ground free from weeds 
and grass ; and between the stalks in each drill the hoe is 
employed for the same object. The seed plants are gen- 



AND RHRAL ECONOMIST. 93 

erally cut after the first smart frost, between the 25th Sep- 
tember and the middle of October, and carried to a barn or 
stack-yard, where the seeds are easily detached by the 
common flail. They should be gathered after a slight, but 
before a severe frost ; and, as they fall out very easily, it is 
advisable to haul the plants on a sled, and, if convenient, 
when they are wet. If transported on a cart or wagon, a 
sheet should be spread to catch the seed as they shatter out. 
After the seeds are separated, the stalks which bore them 
being too large, coarse, and harsh, to produce lint, are usu- 
ally thrown away ; they may be profitably employed in mak- 
ing charcoal for the use of powder-mills. In Europe, where 
the male and female plants are promiscuously grown togeth- 
er in the same field, both for seeds and for lint, the male 
stalks are first gathered, and the female suffered to remain 
growing until the seeds are ripe, when they are also gath- 
ered ; the seeds secured and lint obtained, after the rotting, 
from both descriptions. 

" At'ter the seeds are threshed out, it is advisable to spread 
them on a floor, to cure properly and prevent their rotting, 
before they are finallv put away for use the next spring. 
Seeds are not generally used unless they were secured the 
fall previous to their being sown, as it is believed they will 
not vegetate if older ; but it has been ascertained that when 
they are properly cured and kept dry, they will come up 
after the first year. It is important to prevent them from 
heating, which destroys the vegetating property, and for 
that purpose they should be tliinly spread on a sheltered 
floor. 

" The seeds, whether to reproduce seeds only, or the lint, 
are sowed about the same time. Opinions vary as to the 
best period. It depends a good deal upon the season. The 
plant is very tender when it first shoots up, and is affected 
by frost. Some have sowed as early as the 1st of April ; 
but it is generally agreed, that all the month of May, and 
about the lOth of it especially, is the most favorable time. 
An experienced and successful hemp grower, in the neigh- 
bourhood of Lexington, being asked the best time to sow 
hemp, answered, immediately before a rain. And undoubt- 
edly it is very fortunate to have a moderate rain directly 
after sowing. 

" When the object is to make a crop of hemp, the seeds 
are sown broad-cast. The usual quantity is a bushel and a 
half to the acre ; but here again the farmers differ, some 



94 THE COMl'LETE FARMER 

using two bushels or rvcn two and a half. Much depends 
on the stiengtl) and leitility of the soil, and tlie care with 
which it has been prepared, as well as the season. To these 
causes may be ascribed the diversity of opinion and prac- 
tice. The ground can only sustain and nourish a certain 
quantity of |)lants ; and if that limit be passed, the surplus 
will be smothered in the growth. When the seeds are sown, 
they are ploughed or harrowed in ; ploughing is best in old 
ground, as it avoids the injurious effect of a beating rain, 
and the consequent baking of the earth. It would be also 
beneficial subsequently to roll the ground with a heavy 
roller. 

" After the seeds are sown, the labors of the cultivator 
are suspended, until the plants are ripe, and in a state to be 
gathered ; every thing in the intermediate time being left 
to tlie operations of nature. If the season be favorable un- 
til the plants are sutKciently high to shade the ground, (which 
they will do in a lew weeks, at six or eight inches' height,) 
there is strong probability of a good crop. When they at- 
tain that height, bu» i'ew articles sustain the effect of bad 
seasons better than hemp. 

" It is generally ripe and ready to be gathered about the 
middle of August, varying according to the time of sowing. 
Some sow at different periods, in order that the crop may 
not all ripen at the same time, and that a press of labi>r in 
rearing it may be thus avoided. The maturity of the plant 
is determined by the evaporation of the farina, already no- 
ticed, and the leaves of the plant e.xhibiting a yellowish hue: 
it is then generally supposed to be ripe, but it is safest to 
wait a few days longer. Very little attentive observation 
will enable any one to judge when it is fully ripe. In that 
respect it is a very accommodating crop, for if gathered a 
little too soon, the lint is not materially injured, and it will 
waif the leisure of the farmer some ten days or a fortnight 
after it is entirely ripe. 

" Two modes of gathering the plarts are practised, one 
by pulling them u|) by the roots, an easy operation with an 
able-bodied man, and the other by cutting them about two 
inches (the nearer the better) above the surface of the 
ground. From a quarter to a third of an acre is the com- 
mon task of an average laborer, whether the one or the oth- 
er mode is practised. The objections to pulling are. that the 
plants with their roots remaining connected with them, are 
not afterwards so easily handled in the several operations 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST, QQ 

which they must undergo ; that all parts of the plant do not 
rot equally and alike, when exposed to the dew and rain ; 
and, hnaliy, that before you put then) to the brake, when the 
root should be separated from the stalk, the root drags off 
with it some of the lint. The objection to cutting is, that 
you lose two or thrre inches of tlie best part of the plant 
nearest the root. Pulling, being the most ancient method, 
is most generally practised. I prefer, upon the whole, cut- 
ting ; and 1 believe the number who prelier it is yearly in- 
creasing. When pulled, it is done with the hand, which is 
better for the protection of an old leather glove. The la- 
boier catches twenty or thirty plants together, with both 
hands, and by a sudden jerk draws them without much diffi- 
culty. The operation of cutting is performed with a knife, 
often made out of an old scythe, resembling a sickle, though 
not so long but broader. This knife is applied much in the 
same way as the sickle, except that the laborer stoops more. 
" Whether pulled or cut, the plants are carefully laid on 
the ground, the evcner the better, to cure ; which they do 
in two or three days, in dry weather. A light rain falling on 
them whilst lying down is thought by some to be beneticial, 
inasmuch as the leaves, of which they should be deprived, 
may be easier shaken off or detached. When cured, the 
plants are set up in the tield in which they were produced, 
in shocks of convenient size, the roots or butt ends resting 
on the ground, and the tops united above by a band made of 
the plants themselves. Previous to putting them up in 
shocks, most cultivators tie the plants in small hand bundles 
of such a size as that each can be conveniently held in one 
hand. Before the shocks are formed, the leaves of the 
plants should be rapidly knocked off with a rough paddle or 
hooked stick. Some suffer the plants to remain in these 
shocks until the plants are spread down to be rotted. Oth- 
ers, again, collect the shocks together as soon as they can 
command leisure, (and it is clearly the best,) and form them 
into stacks. A few farmers permit these stacks to remain 
over a whole year, before the plants are exposed to be rot- 
ted. By remaining that period in stalks, the plants go 
through a sweat, or some other process, (hat improves very 
much the appearance, and, I believe, the quality of the lint, 
and this improvement fidl}' compensates the loss of time in 
bringing it to market. The lint has a soft texture and a 
lively hue, resembling water-rotted liemp ; and I once sold 
a box of it in the Baltimore market at the price of Russia 



96 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

hemp. In every other respect, the plants are treated as if 
they were not kept over a year. 

" The inetliod of dew-rotting is that which is generally 
practised in Kentucky. The lint so spread is not so good for 
many purposes, and especially for rigying and ships, as when 
the plants have been rotted by immersion in water, or, as it is 
generally termed, water-rotted. The greater value, and 
consequently higher price of the article, prepared in the lat- 
ter way, has induced more and more of our farmers every 
year to adopt it; and if that prejudice were subdued, which 
every American production unfortunately encounters when 
it is first introduced and comes in contact with a rival Euro- 
pean commodity, I think it probable that in a few years we 
should be able to dispense altogether with foreign hemp. 
The obstacles which prevent the general practice of water- 
rotting are, the want of water at the best season for the 
operation, which is the month of September; a repugnance 
to the change of an old habit; and a persuasion, which has 
some foundation, that handling the plants after their submer- 
sion in water during that month is injurious to health. The 
first and last of these obstacles would be removed by water- 
rotting early in the winter, or in the spring. The only dif- 
ference in the operation, performed at those seasons and in the 
month of September, would be, that the plants would have to 
remain longer in soak before they were sufficiently rotted. 

"The plants are usually spread down to be dew-rotted 
from the middle of October to the middle of December. A 
farmer who has a large crop on hand puts them down at dif- 
ferent times for his convenience in handling and dressing 
them. Autumnal rotting is more apt to give the lint a dark 
and unsightly color than winter rotting. The best ground to 
expose the plants upon is meadow or grass land, but they 
are not unfrequently spread over the same field on which 
they grow. The length of time they ought to remain ex- 
posed depends upon the degree of moisture and the tempera- 
ture of the weather that prevail. In a very wet and warm 
spell five or six weeks may be long enough. Whether they 
have been sufficiently rotted or not is determined by experi- 
ment. A handful is taken and broken by the hand or ap- 
plied to the brake, when it can be easily ascertained, by the 
facility with which the lint can be detached from the stalk, 
if it be properly rotted. If the plants remain on the ground 
too long, the fibres lose some of their strength, though a few 
days longer than necessary, in cold weather, will not do any 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 97 

injury. If they are taken up too soon, that is, before the 
lint can be easily separated from the woody part of the stalk, 
it is harsh, and the process of breaking is difficult and trou- 
blesome. Snow-rotting, that is, when the plants, being 
spread out, remain long enough to rot, (which however re- 
quires a greater length of time,) bleaches the lint, improves 
the quality, and makes it nearly as valuable as if it had been 
water-rotted. 

" After the operation of rotting is performed, the plants 
are again collected together, put in shocks or stacks, or, 
which is still better, put under a shed or some covering. 
When it is designed to break and dress them immediately, 
they are frequently set up against some neighbouring fence. 
The best period for bre:',king and dressing is in the months of 
February and March, and the best sort of weather, frosty 
nights and clear thawing days. The brake cannot be used 
advantageously in wet or moist weather. It is almost in- 
variably used in this state out of doors and without any 
cover; and to assist its operation, the laborer often makes a 
large fire near it, which serves the double purpose of drying 
the plants and warming himself. It could not be used in 
damp weather in a house without a kiln or some other means 
of drying the stalks. 

"The brake in general use is the same hand brake which 
was originally introduced and has been always employed 
here, resembling, though longer than the common flax 
brake. It is so well known as to render a particular de- 
scription of it, perhaps, unnecessary. It is a rough contri- 
vance, set upon four legs, about two and a half feet high. 
The brake consists of two jaws with slits on each, the lower 
jaw fixed and immovable, and the upper one movable, so 
that it may be lifted up by means of a handle inserted into a 
head or block at the front end of it. The lower jaw has 
three slats or teeth, made of tough white oak, and the upper 
two, arranged approaching to about two inches in front, and 
in such manner that the slats of the upper jaw play between 
those of the lower. These slats are about six or seven feet 
in length, six inches in depth, and about two inches in thick- 
ness in their lower edges; they are placed edgewise, round- 
ed a little on their upper edges, which are sharper than 
those below. The laborer takes his stand by the side of the 
brake, and grasping in his left hand as many of the stalks 
as he can conveniently hold, with his right hand he seizes 
the handle in the head of the upper jaw, which he lifts, and 
9 



fifft THE COMPLETE FARMER 

throwing the handful of stalks between the jaws, repeatedly 
strikes tliem by hfting and tluowiiig down the upper jaw. 
These succesive strokes break the woody or reedy part of 
the stalks into small pieces or shnes, which fail off during 
the process. He assists tlieir disengagement by striking tlie 
handful against a stake, or with a sniMll wooden paddle, un- 
til the lint or bark is entirely clean, and conipletelysepara- 
ted from the woody particles. 

"After the above operation is performed, the hemp may 
be scutched, to soften it, and to strengthen the threads. 
That process, however, is not thuught to be profitable, and 
is not therefore generally performed by the grower, but is 
left to the manufacturer, as well as that of beating and hack- 
ling it. Scutching is done by the laborer taking in his left 
hand a handful of the lint, and grasping it firmly, then lay- 
ing the middle of it upon a semicircular notch of a perpen- 
dicular board of the scutching-lVame, and striking with the 
edge of the scutch that part of the lint which hangs down 
on the board. After giving it repeated strokes, he shakes 
the handful of lint, replaces it on a notch, and continues 
to strike and turn all parts of it, until it is sufficiently cleans- 
ed, and the fibres appear to be even and straight. 

" The usual daily task of an able-bodied hand at the brake 
is eighty pounds' weight ; but there is a great dilTerence not 
only in the state of the weather and the condition of the 
stalks, produced by the greater or less degree in which they 
have been rotted, but in the dexterity with which the brake 
is employed. Some hands have been known to break from 
one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds per day. The 
laborer ties up in one common bundle the work of one day, 
and in this state it is taken to market and sold. From 
what has been mentioned, it may be inferred, as the fact is, 
that the hemp of some growers is in a much better condition 
than that of others. When it has been carelessly handled 
or not sufficiently cleansed, a deduction is made from the 
price by the purchaser. It is chiefly bought in our villages, 
and manufiictured into cotton bagging, bales, and other kinds 
of untarred cordage. The price is not uniform. The ex- 
tremes have been as low as three and as high as eight dol- 
lars for the long hundred, the customary mode of selling it. 
The most general price during a term of many years has 
been from fi)ur to five dollars. At five dollars it compen- 
sate? well the laSor of the grower, and is considered more 
profitable than any thing else the farmer has cultivated." 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 99 

"The quantity ot" net hemp produced to the acre is from 
six huiidrcd to one thousand weight, varying according to 
the fertility and preparation of the soil and tlie state of the 
season. It is said that the quantity which any field will 
produce may be anticipated by the average height of the 
plants throughout the field. Thus, if the plants will average 
•eigiit leet in height, tiie acre will yield eight hundred weight 
of hemp ; each toot in height corresponding to a hundred 
weight of the lint. 

" Hemp exhausts the soil slowly, if at all. An old and 
successl'ul cultivator told me that he had taken thirteen or 
fourteen successive crops from the same field, and that the 
last was the best. That was, however, probably owing to a 
concurrence of favorable circumstances. iVothing cleanses 
and pre()ares the earth better for other crops (especially for 
small grain or grasses) than hemp. It eradicates all weeds, 
and when it is taken off, leaves the field not only clean, but 
smooth and even." 



FLAX. The following observations on this subject, are 
extracted from " Assays on Flax Husbandry, by S. W. 
Pomeroy, Esq., First Vice President of, the Massachusetts 
Society for Promoting Agriculture." 

dint}o;e of Sct;d. Notwithstanding it is an opinion well 
established among experienced Hax-growers in this country, 
thjit a change of seed is advantageous, it is apprehended 
th:it they ate not aware of the extent of the benefit to be de- 
rived by selectiui: s«!ed from a soil or climate essentially dif^ 
f'erent ; and it may be owing to a want of attention in tins 
particular, that the flax crops are so uncertain, and the qual- 
ity inferior, however perfect in other respects the system 
may be conducted. Mr. Young observes, that " for^jign flax- 
seed was universally used in Ireland, when it could be ob- 
tained ; otherwise tliey were careful to procure seed which 
grew upon soil of an opposite qiiality from that which was to 
be sown ; that American seed was to be preferred, and pro- 
duced finer flax than any other." Baltic seed produced 
more, but of a coaiser quality. It is well known that Amer- 
ican seed always bears the highest price in the Irisli market, 

Mr Pomerov cites a number of examples to show the im- 
portance attached to the culture of flax in Europe, " and to 
justify the conclusion, that in this country a continued, judi- 
cious change of seed will be indispensable to the successfiil 



JOG THE COMPLETE FARMER 

prosecution of flax husbandry ; and a further inference may- 
be drawn, that experiments on various soils, with seed the 
growth of different climates, are requisite to direct the far- 
mer to the quarter from whence his best seed may be ob- 
tained. Here opens a legitimate field for our numerous 
agricultural sucieties to labor in : on their exertions the far- 
mer must depend in the outset ; but let it once be ascertain- 
ed that Riga seed is best in one section, Dutch or Gern)an 
in others, and mercantile interest, if not patriotism, will dis- 
tribute them. 

" Should it he objected to importing seed on account of 
the expense, we reply, that large quantities of linseed oil are 
constantly imported, and the difference of price between our 
own seed and that imported will not much exceed what is 
now paid for good clean seed for sowing or export, and that 
which is sold ibr crushing; but if it is fifty cents per bushel, 
or more, it can be no object, compared with the advantages 
that may be reasonably expected to result ; and the farmer 
need not be told, that ' in all his operations parsimony is 
never so ill judged as when it is exercised in the selection of 
his seeds.' It is not pretended, however, but that, from the 
great variety of soil and climate in the United States, the 
object in view might be obtained without importation ; yet 
it may be important to have a good stock to begin with, 
when trials could be instituted with its produce. At any 
rate, it cannot be expected that individuals will embark in 
such a course of experiments, either with foreign or domes- 
tic seed, unless encouraged by agricultural societies, or 
other public bodies." 

In speaking of the soils most suitable for flax, Mr. Pome- 
roy observes, "The soils which rank first in this country, 
are the flat bottoms that are covered by the fall and spring 
floods, which subside early enough in the season to get in a 
crop; those river flats on the second banks that have a depth 
of strong alluvial soil; the reclaimed marshes and swamps, 
with a black unctuous soil, not too peaty, with as much clay 
in the composition as will permit its being rendered soon dry 
and mellow, and not retain water on or near the surface ; if 
it stands two feet below, so much the better, but it must be 
well guarded by ditches and dykes against sudden freshets. 
Such is the soil of the province of Zealand, where more fla.x 
is raised, and of better quality, than in any other part of 
Holland. The next in estimation are the strong black loams 
pn clay or hard pan, that will retain moisture. Yellow 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 101 

loams, with a holding subsoil, may be rendered suitable for 
flax by proper cultivation ; and since the discovery that 
plaster ot" Paris is an excellent manure for it, a crop may be 
obtained with mucn more certainty on lij^httr land than for- 
merly. Perhaps the characteristic of best garden mould 
may be applied to a flax soil, viz., retaining suflicient mois- 
ture, and all that falls, without ever being saturated; but on 
any soils the surface should be completely pulverized, and 
never be worked when wet. 

" No dung should be applied to the land when the flax is 
sown, but may be put on bountifully with the previous crop. 
The objection is, that dung forces the growth so rapidly_, 
that the plants draw weak, have a thin harl, and are the 
more liable to lodge. Lime, marl, shells, leached ashes, &c. 
do not produce such effects. Top-dressings, soon after the 
plants appear, of plaster, ashes, soot, &.c., are highly bene- 
ficial, as they not only encourage the growth, but are a pro- 
tection against worms, which sometimes attack young plants, 
and may be considered the only enemy they have except 
weeds. 

" Salt has been mentioned by the late Dr. Elliot, of Con- 
necticut, as an excellent manure to plough in with flax, at 
the rate of five bushels to the acre;* probably more would 
be better. Plaster is now much used in Duchess county, the 
best cultivated district in New York, as a manure for flax, 
on which its good effects are as apparent as on corn. 

" Tile late chancellor Livingston viewed a piece of flax 
on the 20th of May, 1791, belonging to a poor tenant, very 
injudiciously sown on a dry sandy declivity ; it looked so ex- 
tremely sickly that the tenant thought of ploughing it up; 
the chancellor gave him three bushels of plaster, which was 
sown the next morning before the dew was ofl^, and had the 
satisfaction of seeing his tenant gather more flax from his 
half acre in an uncommon dry season, than was produced 
from any acre in the neighbourhood. 

" 'J'he best preparatory crops in this country at present 
appear to be potatoes, corn, and roots; they will m> st gen- 
erally repay the extra manure, and, if well managed, check 
the production of weeds. 

"The following rotations may serve as nn outline subject, 
to be varied, and hemp or other crops introduced, as circum- 
stances require, viz. : 

* See Elliot's Ei^says on Field Husbandry. 
9* 



Jl02 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

" No. I. Low, cold, or Ttdaimcd Soils. 

1st year, Pijtat>es. 

21 do. Flax, with seeds. 

31 do. HerWn grass and red top, or tall meadow oat grass, to continue 
three years or more, ami tlie course repealed. 
"No. II. Strong Uplands. 

1st year, Potatoes or corn. 

2d do. Corn or roots. 

3J do. Flax, with seed. 

4cli do. Clover. 

5tli do. Orchard grass or herd^s grass, to continue three years or more. 
"^o.Wl. Light Lands. 

1st year, Potatoes or corn. 

2d do. Corn or roots. 

3d do. Flax, with seed. 

4th do. Cljvir, to be mown once, tlie after growth to be turned in, and 
rye sown thick on the furrow, which may be soiled or fed in the spring by 
eheep or milch cows, and plouglied in for, 

5th year. Corn. 

6th do. Spring wheat or barley. 

7lh do. Clover; and tlie course to be pursued as before; when flax will 
occupy the land every seventh year. In all cases, except when hemp is sub- 
stituted, the tillage crops should receive the dung. 

" If the land is ploughed into beds or convex ridges, like 
turnpike roads, about a rod wide, especially if low and level, 
the crop will be much more secure from injury by heavy 
rains, and the grass crops will be better if it remains in that 
form. On any soils, fall ploughing in narrow ridges will 
facilitate its early working in spring, and should not be dis- 
pensed with." 

Mr. Pomeroy gives the following directions relative to 
choice of seed. 

" That of the last year's growth should be obtained if pos- 
sible. The usual marks of good seed are, that it be plump, 
oily, and heavy, of a bright brown color, sinking readily in 
the water, and when thrown into the fire to crackle and blaze 
quick. A very simple method of trial is, to sprinkle it thin 
between two pieces of wet paper, which plunge into a hot- 
bed or dunghill, and in less than twenty-four hours the pro- 
portion that will vegetate can be discerned, which should be 
ascertained, in order to regulate the quantity to be sown. 

"On this head no particular directions can be given, as it 
depends on the various qualities of soil, goodness of seed. 
Etc. The rule for sowing small grains is reversed; flax re- 
quiring to be sown thickest on rich soil, as not more than 
one stalk is wanted from a plant. In England and Scotland 
never less than two, nor more than three bushels to the acre 
are sown. Two and a half is the most usual portion. In 
Flanders and Ireland seldom less than three bushels are 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 103 

sown, except when seed is an object. Thick sowing is to 
obtain tine flax. In this country it will be important at 
present to sow at such a rate as will insure good crops of 
each; and experience only can determine the exact point. 
It is probable that six pecks is the least, and two bushels the 
extent that should be sown to obtain the most profitable re- 
sults, till the demand for seed is considerably lessened." 

Sowing. Mr. Pomeroy recommends sowing as early as it 
is possible to prepare the ground ; says that it is important 
that the seeds should be equally distributed, and " fortunate- 
ly what has long been a desideratum is now attained. A 
machine for sowing small seeds broad-cast with perfect regu- 
larity has lately been invented, and performs to great satis- 
faction." * 

fVeciling. "Weeding is considered in Europe, and by 
good husbandmen in this country, as necessary to secure a 
good crop of flax, which is a very tender plant when young, 
and more easily checked in its progress by weeds than any 
other. It is not supposed to be injured by the clover and 
grass sown with it; on the contrary, the Flemish farmers 
think them beneficial, by protecting the tender roots from 
drought, and keeping the weeds under. It should be care- 
fully wed when the plants are three or four inches high ; 
they are not then injured by the laborer going barefooted 
over them." 

Pulling. " This should be performed as soon as the 
leaves begin to fall and the stalks show a bright yellow 
color, and when the bolls are turned a little brown. The 
seed will continue to ripen afterwards. When the flax is 
lodged, it should be pulled immediately, in any stage of its 
growth, or it will be entirely lost. Great care is requisite in 
sorting the different lengths, and keeping them separate till 
after the flax is hackled, or much waste will ensue in that 
process." 

Saving Seed. "As soon as the flax is dry enough to be 
put under cover, it should be rippled, as it is termed. A 
comb, resembling the head of a rake, but with teeth longer 
and nearer together, made of hickory or oak, is fastened up- 



* Bennett's macJjine fi)r sowing hroad-cRst; a description and drawing of 
wliici) are given in tlie " Memoirs of the Philadelpliia A;^ric(dtiiral Society," 
Vol. IV, with ample testimony of its usefulness. It is piisiieil foi ward bv a 
man, like a wlieel-barrow, and will sow more than one acre in an hour, ua- 
impeded by wind or liglit rain. 



104 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

on a block, and the flax, taken in parcels no longer than the 
hands can firmly grasp, is drawn through, and the bolls rip- 
pled ofl"; attention to sorting at the same time should be con- 
tinued. 'I'he bolls are to be riddled and winnowed immedi- 
ately; spread thin on a clean floor, or on sheets, in the sun, 
and when sufficiently dry, and beginning to open, threshed. 
By this method, the foul seeds are completely separated with 
little trouble, and good clean seed is ready for an early 
market, often the best, without the use of expensive ma- 
chinery to make it so. Here the operations of the farmer 
ought to end; the process of preparation being foreign to 
and unconnected with his other pursuits; and which has been 
the greatest objection to extensive flax culture. Can thire 
be a reason why the farmer is to prepare his flax more than 
the hides of his cattle, which he sends to the tanner? They 
are both chemical processes; and to dissolve the glutinous 
or resinous substances by which the fibres are attached to 
the stem, without impairing their strength, is perhaps as 
critical, and requires as much care and judgment, as to ex- 
tract the animal juices from the hides, and till the pores with 
tannin. In short, the flax grower and flax preparer and 
dresser should be distinct professions. They are said to be 
so in Flanders and Holland, and were extensively so in 
Scotland, where the farmer sold his flax on the ground, or in 
sheaves at his barn or rick. 

"The preparation of flax by steeping is very general in 
the great flax-growing countries in Europe, but it is not 
quite finished in the water. It remains spread some days on 
the grass, which is necessary to render it soft, and give that 
silvery appearance so desirable. The destructive process of 
dew-rotting is most commonly practised in this country, and 
when water is resorted to, it is at an improper season and 
the process imperfect ; which is the cause of its being so 
harsh and brittle. Perhaps no part of the system requires 
such an allowance for diflerence of climate. In the humid 
atmosphere of Ireland, it is not very material when it is 
spread ; but in this climate, when exposed to a July or 
August sun, every drop after a shower becomes a burning- 
glass, and literally scorches the fibres : besides, such a 
highly putrid fermentation as will then take place in the 
water, though it separates the harl more speedily, not only 
injures it, but communicates a stain, that renders the process 
of bleaching much more tedious and expensive. 

"The flax should not be put into the water till about the 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 105 

first of October, and remain from ten to fourteen days, ac- 
cording to the temperature of the weather ; and should be 
taken out before the fibres will separate freely, spread on 
the grass, when the frost will very much assist the operation; 
and the flax exhibits a gloss and softness that it is impossible 
to give it otherwise. The following method of preparing 
hemp, will ap|)ly with great force to the p<jint under discus- 
sion. During the late war, an experienced ship-master in 
Connecticut, and who was also a good farmer, raised a crop 
of hemp. As soon as it was dry enough to be stowed away, 
it was put under cover, and remained till October; was then 
put into clear soft water, till the fibres would separate with 
some difficulty, when it was spread on the grass; the frost 
completed the operation, and when dry it was immediately 
secured. There was no putrid fermentation to deteriorate 
the harl, nor was it mildewed by being exposed to the wea- 
ther, and when dressed exhibited that fine silver-green hue 
by which the Russian hemp is distinguished;* and when 
worked up, was pronounced by the rope-makers to be equal 
to any hemp ever imported ! Here is a lesson tor our west- 
ern brethren, that is worth more to them than mines of silver. 
Clear, soft, stagnant water, is preferred in Europe. A canal 
forty leet long, six broad, and four deep, is said to be suffi- 
cient for the produce of an acre of flax, at one time. It should 
be ("ormed on a clay or some holding soil, where the water 
from a spring or brook can be conducted in with conveni- 
ence ; the expense would not be great, and on most farms 
suitable sites may be had. May n >t boiling or steaming be 
found the most advantageous process of preparing flax ^ 
The very superior sample of thread exhibited at Brighton, in 
1818. for which Mrs. Crowninshield, of Danvers, received a 
premium, was spun from flax prepared by boiling. It ap- 
pears by the ' Transactions of the Swedish Academy,' that a 
method was practised in Sweden of preparing flax to resem- 
ble cotton, by boiling it ten hours in salt water, spreading on 
the grass, and frequently watering, by which it becomes soft 
and bleached. Boiling or steaming will not appear very for- 
midable or expensive when we examine the subject. A box 
twenty feet long, six feet wide, and four deep, well construct- 
ed of stout planks, a boiler, from which a large tube extends 
into and communicates with the water in the box, will boil 

♦ Tlie lipst Rigii lieiiip supplied fur the Biiiisli navy is prepared by stepping; 
during uliicli it is sliifted tliree times, 



106 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

the produce of a quarter of an acre in a day; that is, if we 
allow double the room to boil in that is required for steeping. 
A steam-pipe, instead of the tube, and having the top of the 
box well secured, would permit the process of steaming to 
go on. It is probable that by either method, spreading on 
the grass will be necessary to obtain soft flax. The yarns 
of which the sail cloth is made at Paterson are all steamed. 
The navy board expressly forbid their being boiled in alka- 
line lye, as is usual in most manufactures of linen. It is 
from this precaution that their canvas has the pliable, oily 
feeling, which so much recommends it. It should not be 
lost sight of, that by boiling or steaming, much time and ex- 
pense will be save J in bleaching. 

" In dressing," says Mr. Pomeroy, " our climate gives a 
decided advantage over Ireland, Flanders, or the north of 
Europe, where flax is dried on hurdles, over a peat tire, in 
ovens, or kilns, requiring great care in regulating the heat, 
to prevent injury. All this trouble and hazard is obviated by 
our dry atmosphere and keen northwest winds. Dr. Deane 
estunated the expense of dressing flax by hand at one third 
of the product. I believe the present price does not vary 
much from his estimate. A respectable gentleman from 
Duchess county. New York, informed me that mills or ma- 
chines, impelled by water, have been erected there, that 
break and completely dress the flax for a toll of one tenth ! 
It is said one or more of them are in operation in the west'- 
em part of this State. These mills were invented in Scot- 
land, and are now said to be brought to great perfection. 
They are erected in all directions in the principal flax dis- 
tricts in Ireland, and notwithstanding the low price and limit- 
ed demand for labor, are resorted to by the poorer classes 
of people, the dressing by hand being mostly abandoned. 
There are machines in England that dress the flax immedi- 
ately tVom the Held, without any preparation whatever. An 
account of them may be found in the fifih volume of the 
Massachusetts Agricultural Journal. It appears by the re- 
port of a committee of the House of Commons, that in 1817 
they were in successful operation. A man and tiiree chil- 
dren impelled the machines, and dressed sixty [)ounds a day. 
Should they be susceptible of the application of water or 
steam power in any degree proportionate, the advantage may 
be incalculable; but in the present inquiry, we place these 
machines, however desirable, entirely out of the question." 

Product. " Jt is not uncommon in Great Britain and Ire-^ 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. ]07 

land to obtain eight hundred pounds of flax from an acre I 
Six hundred pounds is estimated, in some districts, as an 
average; but it should be observed that httle, if any, seed 
is obtained. The average crop in New England, as far as 
our information extends, cannot be estimated at more than 
two hundred pounds, and six or eight bushels of seed. (We 
do not include the rich bottoms on the Connecticut, and 
some other rivers.) Dr. Deane was of opinion, that four 
hundred pounds might be calculated on with proper manage- 
ment. 

"We think that four hundred pounds of good clean flax, 
and eight or ten bushels of seed, may fairly be assumed as 
a medium crop on favorable soils, where the culture becomes 
such an object as to make other farming operations subservi- 
ent to it, and due attention is paid to change of seed. 

" Those who grow flax to any extent are of opinion, that 
the seed, at the price it has been for some years past, pays 
for all the labor bestowed on the crop to the time the flax is 
ready to be prepared or rotted." 



WHEAT. To raise good wheat is considered, both in 
America and Europe, as an object of prime consequence to 
the cultivator, and agricultural writers have of course been 
very voluminous on the subject. We shall select and con- 
dense some of their remarks, which appear to us of the 
greatest importance, and add what our own observation and 
experience has suggested. 

Wheat is thought to be the most useful of the farinaceous 
plants; and as the bounty of Providence has generally de- 
creed, that those things which are most useful shall be most 
common, wheat accordingly will grow in almost any part of 
the globe. It thrives not only in temperate, but in very hot 
and in very cold regions: in Africa and Siberia, as well as in 
the United States and Great Britain. It requires a good 
loamy soil, not too light nor too heavy. The " Memoirs of 
the New York Board of Agriculture," (Vol. II. p. 28.) state, 
that " wheat grows best on land which contains just as much 
clay as can be combined with it without sul)jecling the wheat 
to be frozen out," And the author of that article, Mr. Amos 
Eaton, observes, "Since it is the clay which absorbs and 
retains most of the water injurious in wheat soils, I adopted 
a rule for the consideration of farmers, founded on that prin- 
ciple, and confirmed by all the observations I have been 



108 THE COMPLETE FAKMER 

enabled to make. Ride. — Wash a little of the soil in a 
tumbler of water, and observe the time required for it to be- 
come clear. If the time required exceeds three hours, it 
may be considered as liable to be injured by frost." W.Van 
Dusen, a farmer of Rensellaer county, New York, says 
" tiiat if wheat be sowed the last week in August, on clay 
soil, it will generally resist the effect of frost in the winter, 
and of insects in the spring." " A clay soil," according to 
the same work, " having absorbed a large proporti(»n of 
water, becomes cellular as the water freezes, or rises up in 
various protuberances, so that the roots of the wheat plant 
become disengaj.ed from their hold in the soil. It is very 
manifest, that if wheat be sowed so early that each plant may 
have time to extend its roots into the soil, its chance for 
retaining its hold will be better." We believe that not only 
clay, but lime, chalk, marl, or other calcareous substance, 
is necessary to bring wheat to perfection; and the grounds 
of our belief we shall exhibit hereafter. 

"The Complete Farmer" says, that "the best time for 
sowing wheat is about the beginning of September. But if 
the earth be very dry, it had better be deferred till some 
showers have moistened the soil." Mr. Mortimer says, he 
has known wheat to be so musted and spoiled by laying long 
in the ground bef)re rain came, that it never came up at all; 
to which he adds, " that he has seen very good crops of 
wheat from seeds sown in July." We should apprehend, 
however, that it would be necessary to feed wheat sown so 
early, in order to prevent its going to seed the first year, or 
getting too far advanced in its growth to resist the frosts of 
the succeeding winter. Sowing in dry cround is generally 
recommended for seeds ; but wheat, being liable to be smut- 
ty, is commonly prepared by steeping in brine or lime, and 
in consequence of the steep vegetation commences ; and if 
the seed in this state is placed in earth which is and contin- 
ues for any time dry, vegetation is checked by the drought, 
which kills or greatly injures the seed. 

Early sowing requires less seed than late, because the 
plants have more time, and are more apt to spread, and 
throw out a good number of stalks. More seed is required 
for poor than for rich lands, and rich land early sowed re- 
quires the least of any. Bordley's "Husbandry" says, 
" The climate and soil of America may be believed to differ 
greatly from those of England, respecting the growth of 
some particular plants. Wheat sown there, two to three 



AND nURAL ECONOMIST. 109 

bushels on an acre, yields great crops. Two bushels an acre 
sown in Maryland or Pennsylvania would yield straw without 
grain. In Maryland three pecks are commonly sown. I 
never had better crops than from half a bushel of seed wheat 
to an acre, in a few instances. In these instances the ground 
was perfectly clean and fine, after many ploughings or horse- 
hoeings of maize, [Indian corn,] on which the wheat was 
sown in September, whilst the maize was ripening. It was 
a clay loam, highly |)ulverized. But because of the loss of 
plants at other times, I preferred to sow three pecks an 
acre." " Grain which is thin sown, says the Complete 
Farmer, is less apt to lodge. Every one must have observ- 
ed, that in places where foot-paths are made through wheat 
fields, by the side of the paths, where. the corn is thin, and 
has been trodden down in winter and spring, the plants have 
stood erect, when most of the corn in the same field has 
been laid ilat on the ground ; an advantage proceeding from 
the circumstance of the stalks having more room." 

" The Farmer's Assistant " asserts, that " the time for 
sowing wheat probably depends much on previous habit. 
Thus if it were sown a number of successive years by tlie 
middle of August, and then the time of sowing were chang- 
ed at once to October, the crop would probably be much 
lighter on that account ; yet where wheat has become ha- 
bituated to be sown late, it will do tolerably well. The later 
it is sown, however, the more seed is requisite. When early 
sown, a bushel to the acre is believed to be sufficient ; but 
when sown later, a bushel and a half, or more, may be 
necessary." The estimate of seed, however, should be 
formed, not so much from the capacity of any particular 
measure, as from the number of grains which that measure 
contains. The larger and fi-Iler the seed is, the greater 
quantity by measure will be required ; the smaller, the less 
quantity. Much, therefore, must be left to the discretion of 
the farmer, who must take into consideration the time of 
sowing, the quality and preparation of the soil, as well as 
the plumpness or the shrivelled state of the seed wheat. 

If naked summer fallows are used at all, they may as 
well be made preparatory to a crop of wheat. It may some- 
times be expedient to suspend, for one season, the raising of 
crops of any sort on land which is exhausted or greatly in- 
fested with weeds ; and during the summer and autumn, 
plough and harrow it several times, and thus thoroughly 
subdue it. Wlien such a process is adopted, wheat is gen- 
10 



no THE COMPLETE FARMER 

erally the succeeding crop. The custom of naked fallow- 
ing, however, is not rnucli approved of in modern husbandry, 
and that tnode of preparing tor wheat is rarely adopted l)y 
scientific cuhivators. Sir John Sinclair says, "The raising 
clean, smothering, green crops, and feeding stock with tliem 
upon the land, is not only much more profitable, as far as 
relates to the value of the crop sul)stituted in lieu of a fal- 
low, but is also a more efl^ectual method of procuring large 
crops of wheat, or any other crop, whici; may succeed the 
green crop." There is a disadvantage sometimes attending 
fallows, which we apprehend may be n)ore detrimental in 
our climate than in that of Great Jiritain. Land which is 
kept in a light and pulverized state is liable to be washed 
away by violent rains, and the showers of our summer sea- 
son are usually more plentiful, and fall with more impetuosi- 
ty than those of England, although the mean moisture is 
less, and there is less rain tails in the course of the year on 
this than the other side of the Atlantic. 

In modern tillage, wheat more usually follows clover than 
any other crop; and Bordley's " Husbandry " says, "clo- 
ver is the best preparative for a crop of wheat." In such 
case, English farmers, and indeed all others who vwrk it 
right, give but one ploughing, and harrow in the seed by 
passing the harrow twice in a place the same way with the 
furrows. Mr. Bordley directs, that the operations of plough- 
ing, harrowing, and sowing, should inunediately follow each 
other. Mr. Macro, an eminent English farmer, says, " From 
upwards of twenty years' experience I am of opinion, that 
the best way of sowing clover lands with wheat, is to plough 
the land ten or fonrletn days befort you sotv it, that the land 
may have time to get dry, and after rain to make it dress 
well. I am at a loss to account for the trheat tfirivins; better 
on lands which hare been, plonghed some time, than it does on 
fresh ploughed lands which dress as well or better ; but I 
have often tried both ways on the same lands, and always 
found the former answer best." Mr. Bordley, in attempting 
to account for this effect says, " I conjecture that the clover 
plants being buried and the wheat sown at the same time, 
they both ferment and run into heat in the same period ; 
the germ then shoots, and the root is extremely delicate and 
tender for some days ; during Avhich, the buried herbage 
obtains its highest degree of heat ; which, added to the in- 
ternal heat of the germ, may, though only slightly, check 
and a little injure the delicate shoots of the wheat. In 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 1 1 1 

sprouting barley for making malt, a little excess of heal in the 
bed checks, and a little mure totally stops the sprouting or 
growth of the roots. Both modes give crops superior to 
what are pidduced on ralh)W. Farcners may well try both 
methods, (or determining which to prefer ; that is, as well 
immediate sowing, on ploughing in the clover, as the method 
of sowing not till ten or fourteen days after having ploughed 
in the clover: suppose a half each way." 

We believe that wheat would flourish better if it were 
buried deeper than it generally is in broad-cast sowing. Our 
opinion is founded on the following facts, relating to (he 
physiology of the wheat plant. " A grain of wheat, when 
put into the ground at the depth of three inches, undergoes 
ll.e following transformations : as soon as the farinaceous 
matter wiiich envelopes the frame of the young plant con- 
tained within it is softened into a milky state, a germ is 
pushed out, and at the bottom of that germ small roots soon 
follow. The roots are gathering strength, whiLst the germ, 
by the aid of the milky fiuid, is shooting upwards ; and when 
the milk is exhausted, the roots are in activity, and are col- 
lecting nourishment for the plant from the soil itself This 
is analogous to the weaning of the young of animals, which 
are not abandoned by the mother till they can provide for 
themselves. But the care of nature does not end here ; 
when the germ has fairly got above the surface, and become 
a plant, a scl of tipper roots are thrown out, close to the sur- 
face of the ground, which search all the superficial parts of 
the soil with the same activity as the under roots search the 
lower parts ; and that part of the germ which separates the 
two sets of roots is now become a channel, through which 
the lower roots supply the plant with the nourishment tliey 
have collected. Wiiat an admiraljle contrivance to secure 
the prosperity of tlie plant ! Two distinct sets of roots 
serve, in the first place, to ti.v the plant firmly in the ground, 
and to collect nourishment from every quarter. The upper 
roots are a[)positelv sit\iated to receive all the nourishment 
tiiat comes naturally from the atmosphere, or artificially as 
manure, to the surface; and serve the further purpose of be- 
ing the base of new stems, which are tillered up, and so 
greatly increase the productiveness of the plant. The ex- 
cellence of the drill svstem in grain may [)rohabIy be per- 
ceived in this explanation ; for in broad-cast sowing the 
seeds lie very near to the surfao-, and in this situation it is 
not only more exposed to accidents arising from birds, in- 



112 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

sects, and Ihe weather, but tlie two sets of roots are neces- 
sarily crowded together, so as almost to become indistinct ; 
the plant is less lirm, and has fewer purveyors, collecting 
food for it." * 

Dr. Deane observed, that " wheat that is sowed in autumn, 
a clover ley excepted, should, instead of harrowinjr, be cov- 
ered with a shallow furrow, and the surface left rough. It 
will be less in danger of being killed by the frost in winter, 
and less injured by drying winds in the following spring. 
The furrows should be It^ft without harrowing; for the more 
uneven the ground is, the more the soil will be pulverized 
and mellowed by the frost." But if the crop which succeeds 
the wheat crop should require a smooth bottom, the land, 
after sowing, must be harrowed, and should be rolled. Some 
husbandmen advise, when wheat is sown on a clover ley, to 
plough in the clover with a deep furrow, then plough in the 
seed wheat with a shallow furrow; and if the next crop in the 
rotation requires a level bottom, it will be necessary to har-' 
row and roll the field as smooth as possible, after having 
ploughed in the seed. 

The greatest care should be exercised with regard to the 
kind, quality, and preparation of seed wheat. J'here are 
many varieties of wheat ; but winter wheat, in the United 
States, is generally distinguished by only two ap|)ellations, 
red wheat and white wheat, of which the hitter is held in 
highest estimation. 

In preparing your seed wheat, the first thing to be attend- 
ed to is, to clear it perfectly from every injurious foreign sub- 
stance. "One error here may mar our whole system, and 
render our skill productive of as nmch evil as good. On 
poor and worn-out land, the evil of sowing a mixture of im- 
pure seed with grain or grass seed would be great; but where 
the ground is in high order the crop is more injured; the 
noxious plants take firmer hold, and are more difficult to be 
eradicated."! Indeed, it would be better for a farnjcr to 
pick over his seed wheat by single handfuls, and make a rid- 
dle of his fingers, than to sow cockle, darnel, tares, wild 
turnip seeds, and other vegetable nuisances, which are as in- 
trusive as unwelcome, as tenacious of life as they are un- 



* Mr. Featlier.-itonliniigli's Essay on the Principles and Practice of Rural 
Economy. 

t See a communicaliun liy O. Fiske, Esq., New England Fanner, Vol. I. 
p. 222. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 113 

worthy of existence. The first preparation theretore should 
be to screen, winnow, and riddle the giain till perfectly treed 
from these, and other improper ingredients. When this is 
thoroughly accomplished, washing and steeping, for the pur- 
pose of preventing smut, should meet attention. The first 
step in the processes to be instituted against smut, as recom- 
mended by Sir John Sinclair, is " to run the grain very genlly 
through a riddle, when not only the smut balls, but the im- 
perfect grains, and tlie seeds of weeds, will float, and may be 
skiuuned oti'at pleasure." The same author enumerates, as 
modes by which smut may be prevented, I. The use of pure 
cold water and lime. i2. Jioilmg water and lime. 3. Water 
impregnated with salt. 4. Urine pickle. 5. Lye of wood 
ashes. 6. A solution of arsenic. 7. A solution of blue 
vitriol. It seems that almost any acrid, corrosive, or poison- 
ous a[)pIication will secure a clean crop, if properly used for 
that purpose. 

Mr. Arthur Young sowed fourteen beds with the same 
wheat seed, which was black with smut. The first bed was 
sown with this wheat without washing, and had three hundred 
and seventy-seven smutty kernels. A bed sowed with seed 
washed in clean water produced three hundred and twenty- 
five smutty kernels; washed in lime-water, foity-three do.; 
washed in Ive of wood ashes, thirty-one do. ; washed in 
arsenic and salt mixture, twenty-eight do.; steeped in lime- 
water four hours, two do.; steeped in lye four hours, three 
do.; steeped in arsenic four hours, one do. Again, that 
which was steeped in lye, as before mentioned, twelve hours, 
had none; and that which was steeped in the same kind ot 
lye twenty -four hours had none; that also which was steeped 
twenty-four hours in lime-water had none ; that steeped in 
arsenic twenty-fijur hours had five. 

A correspondent of " The New England Farmer," * (who 
is, we believe, a practical and scientific agrii ulturist, and 
whose statements are worthy of implicit confidence,) with 
the signature Berkshire, in giving directions (or prejiaring 
seed wheat, observes: " The only successful course is to 
prepare the seed about ten days before sowing-time. This 
is done by selecting clean and plump seed, passing it through 
water in a tub, about half a bushel at a time, and washing it 
and skimming off the matter that floats; then empty it into a 
basket to drain, then lay it on a clean floor and rake in two 

* See New England Farmer, Vol. I. p. 275. 

10* 



114 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

quarts of slacked lime and one quart of plaster to the bushel, 
and if too dry sprinkle on water, and continue to stir it 
until all is covered with the lime and plaster. In this way 
you may proceed until you have prepared your whole seed. 
Let it remain in a heap one day, then spread it and move 
it daily, until it becomes perfectly dry; it is then tit to sow, 
and you ma; sow it if the land should happen to be quite 
wet." 

We shall now speak of the liability of wheat to become 
winter-killed. The author of " Leiters of Agricola" states, as 
an objection to the cultivation of wheat in Nova Scotia, " its 
liability to be thrown out in the spring, and thus subjecting 
the farmer to serious inconveniences, and often disappoint- 
ment of a crop. Grasses are not exempt from the same 
hazard; and the hopes of the year are thus blasted by a 
cause which, in many cases, will admit of remedy, in all, of 
alleviation. I am not sure but sowing the wheat seed under 
furrow, at least four or live inches deep, in September, in 
order that it may extend its roots and take a firm hold of the 
soil before the approach of winter, and rolling it in the 
spring with the box heavily loaded, would obviate the evils 
of our climate, and enable us to cultivate that grain accord- 
ing to the improved modes of England. It ought to be re- 
collected that even there, about sixty years ago, winter wheat 
was not of general cultivation, and the heaving of the soil 
was accounted a powerful obstacle to its success. In Scot- 
land, too, during the same period, spring wheat almost uni- 
versally prevailed; and her northern and bleak position was 
thought to be incapable of any change to the better, and 
utlerly unfriendly to autumnal semination. The zeal and 
industry of British farmers, combined with their skill, have 
baffled all these gloDmy predictions, and taught us at once to 
copy the example of our sires, and not to despair in the race 
of improvement." 

A method, according to the same author, made use of in 
Norfolk, England, to guard wheat against the changes and 
inclemency of winter and spring, is to adopt the following 
rotation: "After a turnip crop, they sow barley the second 
year with clover seeds; the third year they cut hay, and 
plough down the ley, and sow their winter wheat on the 
matted sod. The roots of the grass bind the soil, and pre- 
vent it from heaving, which is much akin to the same effect 
produced by the tangled and bound surface of our new and 
cleared lands." •sJThis fact may suggest another inducement 



AND RDRAL ECONOMIST. 



ifjit^ 



to SOW wheat next in rotation after clover, as has been re- 
commended. 

It is well known that our lands, where the soil is at all 
suitable, will produce good crops of wheat when first cleared 
from their native growth of wood ; but after having been 
tilled for some years, they generally yield wheat with diffi- 
culty, and it is often found impossible to raise it by any of 
the modes commonly adopted for wheat culture. In most 
parts of Massachusetts, and in some parts of New Hamp- 
shire and Vermont, the farmers scarcely ever attempt to 
raise wheat, and still more rarely succeed when they do 
attempt it. Yet, we believe, wheat was a common and pro- 
fitable crop in those places in the early period of their settle- 
ment. In process of time, however, the land became ex- 
hausted of its wheat-bearing faculty, and our farmers were 
forced nearly to forego its cultivationT) The same variations 
and appearances have likewise b^en observed in Europe. 
Wheat countries, by continued cultivation, have become 
almost incapable of yielding wheat. The cause and remedy 
of this partial barrenness, this falling off, with regard to par- 
ticular plants, was alike involved in obscurity, till modern 
discoveries in chemistry threw light on the subject. It has 
been found that the texture of every soil is defective unless 
there is a mixture of three kinds of earth, viz., clay, sand, 
and lime; and that lime, in some of its combinations, exists 
in wheat, both in the straw and kernel. In some soils, fer- 
tile in other respects, lime may either have no existence, or 
be Piund in very minute portions, and be soon exiiausted. 
If lime be a necessary constituent of wheat, and is not in the 
soil where we attempt to raise wheat, it must be supplied by 
art, or wheat will not grow. Or if native lime exists in the 
soil in small quantities, the land may bear wheat till the lime 
is exhausted, and then become incapable of producing that 
plant, till a fresh supply of lime, marl, p\ilverized bones, or 
some other calcareous substance, is added. Mr. Young 
says, ("Letters of Agricola," p. 299,) " It cannot be de- 
nied, that since the plentiful use of lime has been adopted, 
lands in Europe will produce wheat which otherwise were 
incapable of bearing it; " and quotes several instances in 
proof of this assertion. Dr. Anderson likewise gives an ac- 
count of a field which had a top-dressing of lime for the pur- 
pose of raising wheat, but the lime, by accident, wa? not 
applied to a small patch of the field, and in tliat patch there 
was no crop, while every part of the field to which the lime 



]i!6 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

was applied produced wheat luxuriantly. It would be easy 
to adduce many more instances to prove that lime, in Great 
Britain, is considered not only useful, but indispensable for 
the production of wheat. A British farnier, we believe, 
rarely undertakes to raise wheat wilhout the use of lime, and 
an American farmer as rarely undertakes to raise it with the 
use of that substance for manure. 

If the foregoing premises are correct, it would seem not 
impossible, and indeed scarcely improbable, that by the judi- 
cious use of lime, or other calcareous substances, wheat may 
be as well raised in New England as in the western States. 
The subject is certainly of very great importance, and de- 
serves repeated experiments. 

It will be objected against the use of lime, 1st, that it is 
too dear to be used for manure; and, 2dly, that our farmers 
do not know how to apply it, and, as it is a powerful sub- 
stance, it may do more harm than good, unless in the hands 
of a chemist, or one practically acquainted with its operation. 
With regard to the dearness of lime, we are informed that 
there is no want of limestone in almost eVery part of the 
United States; and probably, by proper searcb, many more 
limestone quarries might be discovered in New England 
than are at present known. And the price of lime would, 
doubtless, be diminished by increasing the demand, because 
if great quantities were wanted for agricultural purposes, a 
greater number of persons would find their account in making 
a business of manufacturing it ; improvements would be in- 
troduced in the processes connected with its manufacture, 
and of course it would be afforded cheaper. Besides, small 
quantities would alone be needed for the purpose of furnish- 
ing that calcareous matter which nature inclines to incorpo- 
rate into the substance of wheat, clover, &c., and probably a 
top-dressing of two or three bushels to the acre would be ot 
essential benefit, though doubtless more would, generally, be 
preferable. Mr. Young says " a small quantity of quick- 
lime, scattered on the surface of lands newly cleared, will 
prove highly beneficial during the whole lengtii of time they 
remain untilled. Thirty bushels of shells [lime fresh from 
the kiln] to the acre, slacked into a fine powder, will produce 
the most surprising efl^ects, if not on the first crop of wheat, 
at all events, on the verdure, luxuriance, and quality of the 
future pasture."* A writer in the " JMusetnn Rtislicum," an 

* Letters of Agricola. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 117 

English work, says, "that lie sows his wheat without laying 
on any manure, but, early in the spring, gives a top-drcssing 
of twenty bushels ol" lime, pulverized, and mixed intimately 
with forty bushels of sand; and if the weather be dry, he 
doubles the quantity of sand." We are disposed to believe 
that at least liuie enough for light top-dressings might be 
easily procured by almost every cultivator in the Union, 
And such light dressings, if our theory is correct, would be 
all that is indispensahle to the production of wheat. 

With regard to the mode of applying lime, nothing can 
be more simple. It should be evenly spread, after being 
water-slacked, on the surface of the soil, and not ploughed 
in, or, if ploughed in, it should be with a very shallow fur- 
row, because its tendency is to sink below the reach of culti- 
vation. If used in a quick or burning state, it will be safest 
to mix it with about double its quantity of sand, loam, clay, 
or some other material. The additional material may be 
made to correspond with the wants of the soil to which it is 
applied. Thus, if the soil has too much clay, mix sand with 
your lime ; if too much sand, mix finely pulverized clay, 
&c. 

It is said that British farmers apply lime in great quanti- 
ties directly from the kiln in its most caustic state, even to 
land which is replete with putrescent or vegetable manure, 
and run the risk of consuming or wasting the manure by its 
corrosive qualities. But the soil of Great Britain is generally 
wetter than ours, and of course the lime sooner becomes 
mild. Besides, there is a great difference in the strength of 
lime, and that of the United States may be, generally speak- 
ing, stronger than the English lime. In short, |we should 
advise every farmer to use quicklime as manure, in small 
quantities at first, mixed with a large proportion of earth, or 
some other substance,) /o dilute it, and thus take care not to 
burn his seed, his fingerg, or his growing vegetables. And 
with these precautions, we would make use of it for wheat 
as a top-dressing in spriiig. UVe would likewise try it mixed 
with wood ashes, together with earth j for we have beea 
told by a practical farmer, that ashes and lime form a union 
much more valuable than either separate. 

In an article on the Culture of Winter Wheat, by R. H. 
Gardiner, Esq., of Gardiner, Me., the writer observes, 
•' The cultivation of winter wheat is preferable to that of 
summer on a great variety of accounts. It is sown and the 
ground prepared in a season of much greater leisure. One 



118 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

of the great disadvantages of our northern climate is the 
extreme shortness of our spiiiig, so that it is difficult for our 
fanners to complete the work which is absohitely necessary 
to be done, after the frost is out of the ground, and before 
the season of planting is over. If, therefore, any work, as 
the sowing of wheat, can be advantageously postponed till 
the autumn, it is of great importance. The winter wheat is 
less liable to injury from insects than the summer; mine has 
never suffered f om them. It affords good fall feed, and the 
larger quantity of roots and stubble to be ploughed in makes 
the land in a better state for the next crop. The grain is 
heavier, and the same number of pounds will yield a larger 
quantity of flour, and of a much superior quality. From my 
experience, I should reconunend that winter wheat should 
not be sowed later than the middle of September, that the 
soil on which it is sowed should be of a light loan), and that 
about five pecks of seed be sown to the acre. I have also 
found the use of plaster on wheat advantageous, as also roll- 
ing the wheat, after it is well up." 

To procure new variet'ies of wheats, (says Mr. Loudon,) 
the ordinary mode is to select from a field a spike or spikes 
from the same stalk which has the qualities sought for, such 
as larger grains, thinner chaff, stiffer straw, a tendency to 
earliness or lateness, &.c. ; and picking out the best grains 
from such ear or ears, to sow them in suitable soil, in an 
open, airy part of a garden. When the produce is ripe, se- 
lect the best ears, and from these the best grains, and sow 
these; and so on, till a bushel or more is obtained, which 
may then be sown in a field apart from any other wheat. In 
this way many of the varieties of the common winter wheat 
have been obtained.* Other varieties have assumed their 
distinctive marks from having been long cultivated on the 
same soil and climate, and take local names, as the Hert- 
fordshire red, Essex white, Sec. 

Marshall (Yorkshire) mentions a case in which a man of 
accurate observation, having in a piece of wheat perceived a 
plant of uncommon strength and luxuriance, diffusing its 
branches on every side, marked it, at harvest gathered it 
separately, and thus introduced a new and superior variety. 

Jonathan Townsend, of Andover, Conn, gives the follow- 
ing directions for obtaining good crops of wheat, preceded 
by Indian corn : " Select a piece of ground suitable for lit'. 

* See also New England Fanner, Vol. X. p. 309. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 119 

dian corn and winter grain ; spread on evenly twenty com- 
mnn cart loads or upwards of stable and yard manure to the 
acre; plough it in just three inches deep and no more; har- 
row it lengtliwise of the furrow; cross mark for the rows, three 
and a half feet for the small, or four feet for the large kind of 
corn; let the corn be properly tended, by keeping the ground 
loose with the plough and hoe, and free from weeds; and if 
the season is not very un])ropilious, you may calculate on a 
large crop. But if the ground is hard and stony, so that it 
cannot be ploughed shallow as above mentioned, then plough 
as shallow as possible, and spread on the manure afterwards 
and harrow it in, and proceed as above directed; the crop 
will not probably disappoint your expectations. As soon as 
the corn has become ripe, or too hard to roast, and if possi- 
ble before it is touched with frost, cut it up, bind and carry 
it out of the field, and shock it in the usual way. If you 
have drawn the earth around your corn into hills, (which I 
would advise never to do in any case,) harrow the hills down 
with a heavy harrow, plough three inches deep, and spread 
on evenly four or five loads of well rotted manure,* and sow 
three pecks of good clear wheat to the acre, and plough it 
in with a light horse plough; and unless something disastrous 
happens, the summer following your garner may be filled 
with the finest wheat. The same directions will apply to 
ground planted w'ith potatoes. I would insure a crop sown 
on ground thus managed for ten per cent. less than if sown 
on a summer fallow in the ordinary way." 

Wheat is subject to several diseases; the most common 
and generally injurious are mildew or rust and smut. Some 
writers assert, that mildew is caused by a minute parasitic 
fungus or mushroom, which fastens on the leaves and glumes 
or stems of the living plant. The roots of this fungus, in- 
tercepting the sap intended by nature for the nourishment of 
the grain, render it lean and shrivelled, rob it of its flour, 
and the straw becomes black and rotten, unfit for fodder. 

Mr. Butler, in "The Farmer's IManual," says, in sub- 
stance, that the rust on wheat commences in July, at the 
time of the filling of the kernel in the ear. when a combina- 
tion of heat and moisture bring into action rich manures, 



* It Ii;is genpr:\Ily been ndviseil not to apply manure to a x\lipat crop (lie 
same year llie wlical is sown, l)iit tlie small qnuiitily incntiDiipd ahove would, 
perliaps, sprvf a? a top-iliPi^sing, willniit giving too great luxuriauce to the 
straw, and cause it to be mildewed or blasted. 



120 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

and forces into the straw, which has now finished its growth, 
more juices than the kernel can take up, being already filled 
out. These juices burst the straw, or pass through the 
natural pores of the stalk. When these juices come to the 
air, they lose by evaporation their thinner parts, become 
glutinous, and form the matter called rust or mildew. 

Willich's "Encyclopedia" observes, "Common wheat 
is more subject to this destructive disease than that which is 
bearded, especially if the land has been newly dunged.'^ Oth- 
er writers, likewise, attribute this disorder to the application 
of fresh dung, in too great quantity. 

The remedies against rust or mildew, according to Sir John 
Sinclair, are as follows : 1. Cultivating hardy sorts of wheat 
2. Early sowing. 3. Raising early varieties. 4. Thick 
sowing. 5. Changes of seed. 6. Consolidating the soil. 
7. Using-saline manures. 8. Improving the course of crops; 
and, 9. Extirpating all plants that are receptacles of rust. 
10. Protecting the wheat plants by rye, tares, and other 
crops. 

Very able and instructive Essays on the Culture of Wheat, 
by the Rev. Henry Colman, were published in "The New 
England Farmer,'' Vol. XII. pages 25, 49, 57, 65, 73. Mr.' 
Colman gives in detail many experiments, some of which 
were made by himself He states, in substance, that he 
sowed three acres of winter wheat on some of the best 
land in the Deerfield (Mass.) meadows. The land was green 
sward, t\irned up in the fall, rolled and harrowed, and the 
seed soaked in brine, limed, and sowed at the rate of two 
and a half bushels to the acre, on the 27th of October. One 
half the field was abundantly manured, and to the other no 
manure was applied. The seed came up finely, and nothing 
could exceed the beauty and luxuriance of the growth, a 
greater part of the field averaging more than five feet in 
height. 

"Above half the field," says Mr. Colman, "including 
an equal portion of the manured and that not manured, was 
passed over twice in the spring, after the grain had got to 
be six inches in height, with a light harrow drawn by one 
yoke of oxen ; and three weeks after was subjected to the 
same process, according to the method practised in France. 
The effect of this was to destroy very few of the plants, and 
to render the growth of what remained much more luxuri- 
ant, producing such an increase of the stem and such an 
extension of the heads, as to attract the notice of the most 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 121 

casual observer, and to induce several persons, who were 
ignorant of the process to which it had been subjected, to 
inquire for the cause of the difference in the two parts of 
the field, and to ask if a different kind of seed had been used. 
After all, however, to my extreme disappointment, the whole 
field has been blasted, and I shall hardly get back the 
amount of the seed sown, and that in a small shrivelled grain. 
The crop is housed, but will scarcely repay the expense of 
threshing. Now that this result was not owing to the use 
of stable dung is obvious, because none was used ; and in 
that part of the field where the blight appeared to com- 
mence, and to make most rapid progress, no manure what- 
ever wiis used. It was not owing to the want of the spe- 
cific property in the soil, as far as that is to be found in 
lime and slaughter-house manure, for both of these were 
employed ; the seed was limed, and the above manure co- 
piously applied. It is not to be attributed to the luxuriance 
of the crop, for several pieces, as I learn in my neighbour- 
hood, have suffered equally and from the same cause, when 
the cultivation was by no means so high. It is not a time of 
universal failure, for a good deal in this vicinity is perfectly 
healthy and sound, and I have already reaped on the same 
farm a small piece of wheat, say half an acre, on higher 
land, which was healthy and fair, though from the condition 
of the land it gave but a small product. This, however, 
though sowed at the same time, was ready for the sickle 
more than a week sooner than the othep, from the drier and 
poorer quality of the soil. What then was the cause of the 
blast .'' I will not assume to decide this question, but as far 
as appears, it was atmospheric, occurring at a particular 
state of the plant, which rendered it peculiarly liable to 
blight. As the wheat was filling fast, we had frequent 
showers, and much of what we Yankees call jnnfi-g?/ weath- 
er ; one day in particular the air was sultry, the heat in- 
tense, and the showers frequent, with intervals of sunshine, 
and the earth was steaming most profusely. An intelligent 
farmer in my employ, accustomed to the cultivation of this 
grain in one of the best wheat districts in New York, re- 
marked to me, that this was very severe weather for my 
wheat, and that he feared I should lose it. The rust in fact 
appeared for the first time the next day, and rapidly extend- 
ed itself over the whole field, presenting no difference either 
in the manured or in the parts of the field not manured, and 
of course less luxuriant. Had my wheat been sown earlier, 
11 



122 THE -COMPLETE FARMET? 

SO as to have been farther advanced, it would probably have 
escaped tlie blight ; had it been sown later, so as not to 
have been so tar advanced as it was, perhaps 1 shoukl have 
been as fortunate ; but the occurrence of such a peculiar 
state of the atmosphere being wholly accidental, at least aa 
far as we are concerned, it is impossible to make any cer- 
tain calculation about it." 

Mr. Colman cpioles authorities, to show that wet and warm 
weather, when the kernel was beginning to form, had usual- 
ly been accompanied with mildew in wheat, in Great Brit- 
ain. He states, in substance, that the crops of wheat, both 
summer and winter, have been in this vicinity good and 
abundant, and on an average full twenty bushels to the acre. 
In Northfield, Mass. the crops of 1833 rated as high as 
seven thousand bushels. 

Mr. Colman states, that William Pomroy, of Northfield, 
from twenty-three acres of old meadow land, on the banks 
of the Connecticut, harvested more than five hundred bush- 
els of winter and spring wheat, "of as fine a sample as 
ever floated on the lirie canal. A part of it was reckoned 
to yield full thirty bushels to the acre." Most of this 
wheat was sowed very early, and was too forward to be in- 
jured by the sultry and foggy weather of July. One piece, 
however, was blighted in consequence of late sowing. 

Mi;. Colman says: "Early sowing, from the best obser- 
vation I have made of the wheat crops which have come 
under my notice, from the imited and decided opinion of the 
British wheat growers, and from many American authori- 
ties, is to be strongly advised. The reason is obvious : the 
wheat crop should be as far advanced in the spring as possi- 
ble, that it may perfect its seed before the hot and sultry 
weather usual in July." 

Sir John Sinclair says, " If a field be evidently affected 
[with mildew] and the progress of vegetation stoj^ped, the 
only way to preserve the straw and the grain, if any hag 
been formed, from being entirely lost, is to cut it down im- 
mediately, even though the crop should not be ripe. The 
straw is thus preserved, either for food or litter, and it is 
maintained that anv nourishment in the stem will pass into 
and I'eed the grain, and make a greater return than could 
well be expected." 

Bi.ACK Sra VVhf.at. Payson Williams, Esq., of Fitch- 
bmji, Massachusetts, has introduced into this country a new 
kind of wheat with the above appellation, which he has thus 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 123 

desciibed in a communication published in " The Northeril 
Farmer." 

" The wheat I not only consider as a remarkable crop in 
quantity, tilty-live bushels and three quarters, (it being 
spritio- wheat,) but very excellent in quality. Its history, so 
far as 1 am able, shall be given. Three years since, niy 
brother. Captain Stephen \\ iiiiams, brought me one bushel 
from Smyrna, which he obtained Irom a ship while discharg- 
ing a cargo of that kind of grain iVom the abundant shores 
of the Black sea ; hence its name. Observing by the map 
that we were in about the same latitude, 1 made trial the 
first season of but one peck, (not being certain that it was 
spring wheat.) 'J'he product was large in slraio; but owing 
to our unpropitions storms and bad weather for a wheat crop, 
the kernel was not so fair as tlie orii^inal. Nothinj; discour- 
aged, however, I sowed from this product rather than the 
orijxiiial ; the product from which more than answered my 
expectation. From this last pruduct I sowed, the 19th of 
April, two bushels and a quarter on one acre of land which 
hnd p(»tatoes grown on it the previous year (crop, six hun- 
dr«'d and thirteen bushels and a half) This field, immedi- 
ately previous to sowing, had been ploughed d^:ep an A fine. 
Alter the grain was harrowed in across the furrows, the field 
w as rolled in, and left from that time to putting in the sickle. 
I would here observe, however, that my usual custom ha.s 
been, to sow on about twenty bushels of good unleached 
wood ashes to the acre, so soon as the wheat plants are two 
inches in height, and in a du.tnp morning, if such can be 
had. 'J'he value of such dressing I have considered to con- 
sist, 1st, in the caustic quality of the ashes, fis it is a pre- 
ventive to the ravages of the white maggot which sometimes 
preys at the roots of the young plants ; 2d, considered as a 
ni inure or top-dressing, it no doubt contributes to tiie earlier 
perfecting the kernel or berry, and at the same time to a 
more vigorous growth of the straw. 

" The seed was prepared as usual, by stirring into the 
heap thick whitewash made from quicklime, until every 
kernel received a coat of the same ; say one quart of nn- 
slacked lime to each bushel of wheat. I prefer lime to lye 
made of wood ashes, [only,] on account of its whiteness, 
thereby rendering it easier to throw the seed (broad-cast) 
more evenly on tiie field. 

"The character of the soil is a deep loam, intermixed with 
cobble stones. Its natural forest growth ha<l been oak, (white, 
and red,) beech, rock maple, chestnut, and hemlock. 



124 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

*' The character of the wheat appears to differ from our 
usual kinds, by the straw being much taller; (some of which 
was five feet ten inches in height;) and although it is what 
we call bearded, and the heads of two varieties, similar in 
appearance to our red and white, yet there is a variety, (say 
a sixtli pait perhaps,) which, notwithstanding the head is 
short, yet the kernels are so closely set that I have repeat- 
edly counted over eighty kernels from one ear or head. 
This variety I call the pearl, from its clear appearance. 1 he 
kernel throughout the crop was very plump and large ; the 
straw stout as well as tall, bearing the beating of our New 
England storms better than any I have heretofore grown. 
I have not the least doubt but it will succeed well, where 
other varieties have prospered, and have no hesitation iii 
believing it will be a valuable acquisition for many years to 
come to the agricultural interests of our country." 



RYE. The farmer who has it in his power to drive his 
business, instead of being driven by it, will do well to sow 
his winter rye some time between the middle of Augu.st and 
the middle of September. If it be sowed so early, it will be 
less apt to winter-kill, will require less seed, the growth will 
be stouter, and the produce greater, other things being 
equal, than if the sowing was deferred till late in autunm. 

Some foreign writers on agriculture assure us, that winter 
rye and spring rye are of the san)e species; and, " The Far- 
mer's Assistant," says " There is but one kind of rye ; but 
this may be made winter rye or spring rye, by gradually 
habituating it to difTerent times of sowing. Take winter rye, 
for instance, and sow it later and later each fall, and it may 
at length be sown in the spring, and become spring rye. 
On the contrary, sow spring rye very late in the fall at first, 
and you may gradually sow it earlier each year, until it 
may be sown in May, and used the first season for pasture 
or mowing, and then grown to perfection the second year." 
The same opinion is likewise expressed in Deane's " New 
England Farmer." 

Rye is capable of being cultivated on most kinds of land, 
but the light sandy soils, where wheat will not thrive, are 
the sorts of soil on which it will, generally speaking, be 
found most profitable to raise this kind of produce. Sir 
John Sinclair observes, that " this species of grain is not so 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 125 

extensively cultivated in Scotland as it ought to be; (for 
weighty crops of it might be raised on soils of the must po- 
rous and arid nature, and upon ahnost pure sand along the 
seashore;) and the winter sort, without which the people 
living on the coasts of (he Baltic could hardly be subsisted, 
is almost unknown. Thirty-Hve husliels of rye were raised 
upon an acre, on land that would not have produced twenty 
bushels of oats. Indeed, oats sown along side of the rye, 
upou the same field, and on land as nearly as could be judg- 
ed of the same quality, were scarcely worth the expense of 
reaping. On tnoorish land, rye has been found a more 
certain crop than oats. Mr, George Culley remarks, th;it 
rye, like oats, will answer in crude soils without lime, or 
calcareous manures, which renders that crop peculiarly cal- 
culated for waste lands when first brought into cultiva- 
tion." 

Lands which will produce tolerable crops of wheat had 
better be cultivated for the purpose of raising wheat thaa 
rye. And, if we may believe what English writers tell us 
relative to this subject, the use of lime for manure will often 
so far change the nature of a poor soil, proper only for rye^ 
that wheat may be made its sul)stitute. Mr. Marshall, in 
his " Rural Economy of Yorkshire," says, "Before the use 
of lime was prevalent, mucii rye was grown on the lighter 
lands upon the margin of the Vale, and in the Moorlands 
scarcely any other crops (han rye and oats were attempted. 
Now, rye is principally conliued to the Moorland dales; and 
even there the alteration of soils by lime has been such that 
wheal has become the more prevalent crop. Nevertheless, 
on light, sandy soils, rye is generally more profitable than 
M'heat, and the bread which is made from a mixture of the 
two grains is here esteemed more wholesome to people in 
general than that which is made from wheat alone." 

When rye is sown upon light land it ripens much earlier 
than on a cold, stiff ground, and it is said by souie writers 
that, by contmuing to sow on such a soil for two or three 
years, it will be forwarded so much as to ripen a month ear- 
lier than th.it which has been raised upon strong, Cftld ground. 
For this reason, those who sow their rye late will do well to 
provide themselves with this early seed. 

Dr. Elliot. informs, that if rye be sowed successively every 

year upon the same land, both the crop and the land will 

be greatly improved, insouiucii that some grounds, which 

would yield but five bushels to the acre at first, have in time 

11* 



126 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

produced a crop of fifteen bushels, without the charge of 
manure; and Dr. Deane observed, that he " had known the 
saave spot produce twenty crops of this grain in succession, 
excepting that it was planted with Indian corn once or twice, 
to subdue the weeds, and that the crops yearly increased in- 
stead of diminishing." But this, it is said, will not be the 
case, unless the soil is naturally of a good quality, and the 
stubble be completely turned under, immediately after reap- 
ing. If the ground is suffered to remain after harvest with- 
out being ploughed till the stubble is dried and shrivelled so 
that it possesses but little substance, and the seeds of weeds 
have had time to ripen, the crops of grain in each succeed- 
ing year will be diminished, and the weeds will take an al- 
most exclusive possession of the soil. 

"The Farmer's Assistant" is opposed to the raising of 
successive crops of rye, unless as much as twentj'-five 
bushels of this grain can be yearly had from the acre; as 
Buch an annual product would probably aflord a clear profit 
to the acre of half that number of bushels; and such a profit, 
he observes, in some of the lighter and in some of the hard- 
er kinds of soil is not to be despised. The same writer re- 
commends sowing winter rye and spring rye, alternately, in 
order that the ground might, every other year, be enriched 
by the application of gypsum. " The growing crop of rye," 
he says, " receives no benefit from the application of this 
manure; but it quickly covers the ground with a fine sward 
of white clover; and as soon as the ground is thus swarded, 
it is in good condition for bearing any crop. Let the gyp- 
sum, therefore, be sown in the spring, on the growing crop 
of winter rye, and by the middle of October ibllowing the 
ground will be covered with white clover; turn this sward 
over in the latter end of the fall, and in the spring sow a 
crop of spring rye ; and, as soon as this is taken off, turn 
the ground over again for a crop of winter rye; and in the 
spring repeat the process of manuring with gypsum, as be- 
fore, for a crop of spring rye; and thus proceed with these 
crops alternately." 

Some sow their winter rye at the last hoeing of Indian 
corn, and hoe it in; and this. Dr. Deane observed, Avas a 
good practice, when it is sown on flat land, or on a rich or 
heavy soil, where grain is apt to sufl^er by the frost of 
winter; for the plants of rye will be mostly on the corn hills, 
and so escape injury from frost; at least they will most com- 
monly escape, or so many of them as are necessary to give 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 127 

a good crop. The plants that are killed will be those in the 
low spaces betwixt the hills. 

Rye is not only a proper crop on land which is too poor 
to produce a good crop of wheat, but it should be sown on a 
soil which is very rich, in preference to wheat, because it is 
less apt to grow so rank as to lodge or blast than wheat. 
It is a very suitable crop for drained bogs. In the first vol- 
ume of " Communications to the British Board of Agricul- 
ture," (p. 341,) in speaking of the culture of rye in Russia, 
it is obser\^ed, that the produce from boggy lands drained and 
sowed with rye is upwards of forty bu^hels to one sowed; 
and they generally use a much smaller quantity of seed in 
sowing such lands. Another proof that rye will bear very 
plentilul manuring, may be adduced from a case reported by 
JNlr. L'Hommedieu, of lS<ew York, who observed, in sub- 
stance, that a neighbour of his manured twenty square rods 
of poor, gravelly, dry soil, with four thousand Menhaden fish, 
and sowed it with rye, at the rate of about one bushel to the 
acre. In the spring it was twice successively eaten off, 
close to the ground, by sheep breaking in, after it had ac- 
quired a height of nine inches the first time, and six inches 
the latter. These croppings, however, only served to make 
it grow thicker and stronger than before ; and when harvest- 
ed it produced sixteen busliels, or at the rate of one hun- 
dred and twenty-eight bushels to the acre; giving to the 
owner, according to the calculation of Mr. L'Hommedieu, 
at the rate of eighty-five dollars to the acre of clear profit.* 

In the " Memoirs of the New York Board of Agricul- 
ture," (Vol. I. p. 8'2,) it is said, "Rye should be sowed the 
last week in August, or the first week in September, at the 
rate of about thirty-si-x quarts per acre; some say forty-eight 
quarts. But if it is not sowed at that time it may not come up 
until spring. A Worlhington had a good crop, which he 
sowed in a January snow storm. Rye raised on upland 
makes much better flour than that which is raised on low or 
damp land." 

Rye may be sown in autumn to great advantage for green 
fodder for cattle and sheep, particularly the latter, in the 
sprinsj. Ewes and lambs will derive much benefit from it, 
at a time when little or no other green feed can be procured. 

* Transact ions of the New York Agrirtiltiiriil Society, part 3, pp. 35, 36..— 
This accixinl in y seem iiii-iedililc, Ixil Mr. L'Huiiniieciieu ileclurcil that it was 
altes^ted to by many crediljle witnesses. 



128 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

When it is meant for this purpose, it should not only be sow- 
ed early in autumn, but should be sowed thicker than when 
it is intended to stand lor a crop of seed. Some say that it 
may well be mowed for hay two or three times in the course 
of the summer; and this piece" of husbandry is recommend- 
ed for farmers whose lands are mostly dry or unsuitable tor 
grass. 

The quantity of seed to be sown on an acre should vary 
according to the soil, the time of sowing, and the purposes 
for which it is intended. If it be sowed in the latter part of 
August, or beginning of September, and is intended to re- 
main for a seed crop, the quantity should vary from thirty- 
two to forty-eight quarts, according to the goodness of soil. 
Later sowing requires more seed, and in some cases two 
bushels to an acre will not be too great a quantity. Ban- 
nister's Husbandry says, " When this grain is sown for 
sheep feed, it is proper- to allow three bushels to the acre, 
for where the blade, haulm, or stalks form the primary ob- 
ject, a much larger proportion of seed is requisite than when 
the crop is meant for harvesting." 

Mr. Adams Knight, of Newbury, Massachusetts, received 
a premium of twenty dollars, from the IMassachusetts Agri- 
cultural Society, for a crop of rye, obtained as t'ollows: 

" The soil is a gravelly loaui, rather dry than otherwise. 
The land was planted with curn in the spring of 1831, and 
manured in the hills with about six cords of manure to*the 
acre, of common quality. In the month of August follow- 
ing, said acre was sowed with three pecks of seed, and hoed 
in the usual manner. In the month of August ISSl, the 
rye was reaped and threshed, and found to measure forty- 
five bushels and five-eijihths of a bushel. There is standing 
on said acre of land seventy-five appletrees, from two to six 
inches through at the root."* 

The same year Mr. Gideon Foster, of Charlestown, Mas- 
sachusetts, obtained thirty-eight and one-sixteenth bushels of 
rye from one acre, as follows: 

"The land is bordering on, and near the mouth of Mystic 
river. The soil is principally a black loam, with clay bot- 
tom. In 1831 it was planted with potatoes, with a moderate 
supply of manure, and yielded an ordinary crop. The [)ota- 
toes were removed the last week in September, the land well 
ploughed and harrowed in the usual way, with one and a 

* New Engliuicl Fanner, Vol. XI. p. 238. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 129 

half bushels of seed to the acre. I owe my success princi- 
pally to the use of night manure, and to that in consequence 
of its being well prepared by age, and thoroughly mixed with 
a large proportion of earth, and frequently removed by the 
fork and the shovel; so that in this way, being ripened for 
use, it went immediately (not to burn, as when applied green 
or new, but) to nourish and fertilize the soil. There was 
early in the spring of the present year spread on the field 
about eight cords of the above described manure. The field 
Avas harvested the latter part of August, the grain threshed 
soon after, and measured by the purchaser, whose certificate 
followed, showing the product to be sixty-one and three- 
fourths bushels, or thirty-eight bushels and two quarts to the 
acre."* 

The following is from the "Transactions of the Essex 
Agricultural Society." 

" To the Trustees of the Essex Agricultural Society. 

" Gentlemkn, — Having fir many years past been more than commonly 
Buccessfiil in laisin^ large crops of winter rye by a process of cultivation which, 
I believe, is entirely new, 1 have been iniluced to submit a statement of the 
mode of cultuie, with the pnjcluce. Ami, that the success of the experiment 
this season may not appear to be alt<igetlier accidental, it will, periiaps, be as 
well to connnuiiicale the result of the process for ihe three or four previous years. 

" The land on which the experiment has been conducted, is situated on the 
Merrimack, about a mile and a half east of tlaverhlll bridge ; and came into 
possession of my father in 1S27. The soil is a sand, approaching to loam as it 
recedes from the river. Perha|)s the term plain land (by which it usually 
passes) will better convey an idea of the (|uality of tiie soil. It is altogether 
loo liglit for grass. The crops we (in 1 most profitable to cultivate on it, are 
winter rje, Indian corn, potatoes, and to some extent turnips. Oats miglit 
probably be raised to advantage, were it not that the land is completeiv filled 
with the weed commonly called charlock, which rendeis it entirely unfit for any 
spring crop, excepting such as can be hoed. The crops of rye on the neighbour- 
ing soil of the sajne nature vary, I believe, from seven or eight to twflve or 
thirteen bushels per acre, according to the cultivation, and their approximation 
to the river. We usually raise on this land from thirteen to thirly bushels of 
Indian corn per acre. Potatoes are very good in quality, but the quantity is 
quite small ; not sufficient to be profitable, were it not that the laud is very 
easilv cultivated. 

" In the summer of 1827, we sowed three bushels of w inter rye near the river, 
on about two acres of land, which produced twenty-eight bushels. 

" In 1828, we sowed four bushels on four acres of land running the whole ex- 
tent of the plain from the river. This piece was sowed in the spring with oats; 
but they were completely smolhered with charlock, and about the middle of 
June, the whole crop was mowed to prevent the charlock seeding. By about the 
middle of August, a second crop of charlock having covered the land, it was 
ploughed very carefully, in order completely to bury tiie charlock; and then suf- 
fered to remain imtil the 15th of September, when we began sowing the rye in 
the following manner. A strip of land about twelve yards wide was ploughed 



* New England Farmer, Vol. XI. p. 243, 



130 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

very evenly, to prevent deep gutters l)etvveen the furrows, and the seed immedi- 
ately sown upon tlie furrow itnd harrowed in ; then itnuiher strip of llie siiuie 
widtii, and so on, until the uhole was linishod. We found the <jat stulihle and 
charlock entirely rolled, and ihe land a) peaied as if it had been well uianmed, 
thoui^h none had hcen applied lo this part since it had lu-en in our posses>ion. 
The rye sprung very (|uick and vigorously, having evidently I'erived great hcnefit 
from being sown and sprouted before the nioisluie supplied by (he decaying 
vegetable matter in the soil had evapcuated to any consideiable extent. Tliis 
crop pro luced one hundred and ihirly-diree bushels. 

" In 1829, the charlock was sullered to grow on the land appropriated to rye, 
until it had attained its growth and was in full blossom. The land was then 
pliiughed very carelully, and the charlock completely covered in. In a short 
time a second crop appeared, more vigorous than the first. This also was al- . 
lowed to attain its growth, and then ploughed in as before. A third crop soon 
appeared, whicli of course was destrojed, when (lie laiul was again ploughed for 
sowing, about the middle of September. This piece of land was a pai allel strip 
rnnuiMg from the river, an<i cuiilaining two acres. Two bushels of rye u ere 
sowed. The crop presented a lemarkably promising appearance, and yielded 
seventy-four anil a half bui-hels. 

" In ISoO, the land appropriated to rye included nearly all the lighter part of 
the soil, and owing to a prcssuie of business was not attended to as we could 
have wished. It was ploughed in the eaily part of the summer; but harrowing 
to destroy the weeds was substituted for the second ploughing. This, and the 
unusual blight uhicli alfecled all the grain in this part of the couiuiy, led us to 
anticipate a small cr< p. It yielded, however, fifteen bushels to the acre. 

" The land on which the crcjp (jf rye was raised the present season had for 
three or lour previous yeais been planted \\ i h Indian corn; and owing to the 
extent of our tillage land, we have not been able to apply more than four or five 
loads of iiiaiuire to the acre this seascjii. The charlock was sullered lo attain its 
growth as usual; anti ou the 18lh and 19ih of June it was careliilly phiiighed in. 
The second crop was ploughed in on the 6tii ami 7th of August. On the 14lll 
and 15lh of Septembei- it was sowed in the usual manner, namely, a small strip 
of land was ploughed, and the seed sown innnedialely upon the fuirow,aud then 
harrowed in; then another strip of land was ploughed, and so on, until the 
whole was complete<l. One busliel per acre was soweil, as usual. The seed 
was originally obtained from a farmer in this vicinity, and I suppose is similar 
to ihat \vhi('h is generally used. We have never piepareil <iur seed in any man- 
ner, but have directed our attention soltdy to the preparation of the Ian. I; and 
to this we attribute our success. Owing to the unusual severity of the winter, 
the crop was consideiably winter-killed, but recovered very soon in the spring, 
excepting in the midfnrrows. Tlicie, as the land lies very level, the water set- 
tled, and so completely destroyed the rye that they continued bare the whole 
season. This would of course cause some diminutiim in the crop ; perhaps a 
bushel or two. The rye was reaped at the usual season, and, as the weather 
was favorable, immediately put into the barn. The land contained one acre and 
thirteen rods, and yielded forty -six busheU and three peckx : a remarkaily fine 
sample. 

" Sowing the seed immediately after the plougii we consiiler very advantage- 
ous to the crop. The soil being then moist, causes the seed to spring immeili- 
ately, and gives a forwardness and vigor to the plants, which they ever after 
retain. 

" The process of ploughing in three crops of weeds, before the seed is sown, 
very much enriches the soil. If would be altogether unnecessary lo alleinpt lo 
refiite the notion, that by smdi a process nothing more is applied to the soil than 
was befme derived from it. If ime could not discover by tiie light which chem- 
istry has shed upon the subject of agriiudture sufficient rensons for the coutiary 
com hision, observation, one would think, would be sufficient to convince any 
intelligent man of the fact. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 131 

" And here I would sugsjost, llmt I do not consider the experiment, as we 
have con huteil it, q lite complete. To render it more so, in (lie first place, in 
plou^'liiiig ill the weeds, I woiiM not tni n a furrow afler the dew had evaporated. 
] ha\e no diiiibt but that a large portion of that fertilizing quality in the soil, 
which (luring tlie summer months) is continually exhaleil fioni the e-.irth, is liy 
the dew brought again williin our reach, and it would be wise to avail ourselves 
of the opportunity of again burying it in the s lil. And in the second place, I 
woul I by all means use a heavy roller after each ploughing. It would fill all 
the cavities left by the plough, and by pressing the soil more closely to the 
weeds, at once hasten their decuu)positiun and very much retard the evapora- 
tion fi'inu the soil. 

•' Bui the land is not only very much enriched by this process. There is, I 
conceive, no method l)y which it can be so effectually cleaned. Three limes 
during the season a fresh surface is presented to the atmosphere ; and each time, 
as the decaying vegetable matter increases in the soil, so is the exciting cau^e 
iiug ni^iite I to make a more vig>rous effort. We have in this manner gone 
over nearly all our land which is infested with charlock, ami the diminution of 
the weeds i-s quite sufl'icient to warrant the expectation, that in a few years it 
niuy be comparatively eradicated. 

"" Very respectfully, John Keely. 

" Haverhill, September 22, 1832." 



OATS. The following remarks are extracted from a com- 
miinication for the "New England Farmer," written by 
Henry Stevens, of Barnet, Vt.: 

" Various are the kinds of oats. The barley or Scotch 
oats, so called, I have cultivated, but not with very great 
success ; their weight is generally about forty-two pounds 
per bushel. I have seldom been able to raise more than fioin 
twenty to twenty-five bushels per acre. The black oats I 
have cultivated; their weight is about thirty-six pounds per 
bushel, and produce about as many bushels per acre as the 
barley or Scotch oats. The greatest objection I have to the 
barley or Scotch oats is, that they must be harvested suddenly 
after they are fit, in order to prevent waste. The common 
oats which are raised I consider preferable. My average 
crop of late years has been from forty to fifty bushels per 
acre, and in one instance sixty-five bushels per acre. » 

" I make oats principally, and generally speaking, my first 
crop, in the line of a rotation of crops. 1 break up the piece 
intended for this crop in the fall, if possible, and in the spring 
cross-plough and harrow thoroughly before I sow my grain; 
then harrow again until the turf is well pulverized; then 
sow ten bushels of clover-seed chart' per acre, and roll it in. 
As soon as the grain is harvested, and the young clover has 
received its growth, I plough it in. This clover with the 
stubble is about equal to a common dressing of compost ma- 
nure. In the fall, plough, in the spring I cross-plough, after 



132 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

taking from my compost heap thirty loads per acre, which 
are carefully spread. The lot then being well harrowed and 
furrowed, is ready for planting, either with corn, potatoes, or 
turnips. This is my second crop. For my third crop, I 
again sow wheat, peas, fla.x, oats, &.C., and stock the lot down 
with herd's grass and red top, which I believe make the best 
of hay. I let the lot remain in grass three years. Thus I 
till three years, or mow or pasture three years. My first 
and third crop is principally oats. 

" I have frequently been told, that oats and corn were very 
impoverishing crops; but I find no difficulty in enriching my 
land as above stated. Ten years ago my average crop of 
corn was from thirty to forty bushels per acre ; but in pass- 
ing over a lot the second time, which was managed as above, 
in the summer of 18'21, I had the satisfaction of harvesting' 
ninety-six bushels of corn per acre, and received the society's 
premium. My other crops have advanced in about the same 
proportion. 

" The inquiry will naturally be made, what I do with my 
oats .' Well, sir, after I have reserved for my stock and for 
seed, I take the remainder to my mill and manufacture them 
into flour and meal. It will be understood that the oats are 
kiln dried, then hulled about as clean as rice, then ground, 
and bolted or sifted, as the case may be. That which I bolt 
is calculated to be mixed with wheat flour, for bread ; in 
which case the oat flour, being kiln dried, must be scalded 
before it is mixed with the wheat flour, otherwise the bread 
will be too dry. Good oat flour, prepared as above, mixed 
with wheat flour, half and half, will make as light and plea- 
sant bread as common country wheat flour, and it will 
trouble good judges of bread to tell it from clear flour bread. 
Again, it is excellent to make butter cake, by the Yankees 
called slapjacks. The oatmeal is calculated for puddings, 
and is a substitute for rye meal to mix with corn meal or rye 
meal for bread In either case, the oatmeal must be scalded 
before it is mixed. 

"Thus after supplying my family, the remainder is for 
market. The oat flour I have generally sold in Boston and 
New York to the druggists. The meal is also purchased by 
the druggists. I have generally sold them oat flour for from 
four to five dollars per hundred, and the meal from three fifty 
to four fifty, which is by them retailed as medicine, from 
twelve to twenty cents per pound. 

"The meal is frequently bought by foreigners, by the 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 133 

barrel or hundred, for family use. The sale of oatmeal is 
at present rather limited; the reason is, that but very few 
people in tiiis country, save foreigners, are acquainted with 
the use of it, except for medicine. Foreigners generally 
prefer oatmeal to flour. I really hope, both for our hcHlth 
and the interest of agriculture, that the time is not far dis- 
tant, when oat flour and meal will be used in every family 
for food. 

" Much may be said, as to the value of this article as medi- 
cine, as well as for food. It has been a common article for 
food in Scotland and Ireland for many years. Seldom, if 
ever,'' an English, Scotch, or Irish vessel sailed without a 
supply of oatmeal; and I may say, it would be well for every 
commander of an American vessel, in making up his order 
for ship stores, to include a sufficient quantity of oatmeal or 
flour for his voyage." 

A writer in " The Massachusetts Agricultural Repository," 
(Vol. V. pp. 331-2,) says, " It appears to us best, all thing."* 
considered, that the first crap, after turning over sward, 
should be oafs. The reason why an oat crop should pre- 
cede a potatoe crop is, that it not only pays well by its pro- 
duct for the year's laj>or, but enables the husbandman to 
deepen his ploughing, preparatory to the second year's 
series in the rotation." 

We believe that oatmeal is of more value as an article of 
diet than is generally supposed in this country. Loudon, in 
his " Kticyclopedia of Agriculture," ol)serves, that 

" Oatmeal, when it is sufficiently diluted with any sort of 
liquid, is known to be laxative, aperient, wholesome, and at 
the same time a strengthening food for those engaged in 
hard labor. Engineers who superintend the excavation of 
canals have assured the re[)orter, that those laborers who 
lived entirely on oatmeal and milk, did a third more work 
than those who used butcher's meat and ardent spirits. All 
of the former saved money, while many of the latter involved 
themselves in debt. As this sort of work is done by the 
piece, it aff'ords a fair comparison not only of the wholesome- 
ness of oatmeal in promoting health, but its power in sup- 
plying labor." 

In harvesting oats, it is recommended to mow, instead of 
reaping them, as soon as they begin to turn yellow. If they 
arc then well dried, the straw will make food for cattle, affer 
being threshed, which will be eaten by the animals in pre- 
ference to the best meadow hay. 
12 



134 THE COMPLETE FARMEK 

Mr. Jacob Smith, of Duxbury, Massnchuseftg, is snir! t(> 
have raised, in 183'3, the prodii^fious crop of stvenhj-jonr 
bushels and three pecks of oats on four- fifths of an acre. The 
averaiie height of tlie phiiits at the time of harvest was esti- 
mated at five feet four ii)ches. 



BARLEY. The following is from the pen of judge Buel, 
of Albany. 

" The soil for barley should be such as will grow good 
turnips, or other green crops, including clovers, and which 
embrace the varieties of loams and sands that are not wet, 
or rerif dry and poor. Indeed, I have taken my crops, and 
they have been pretty good, from my lightest turnip soils. 
Barley cannot be cultivated to advantage upon stiff, heavy, 
and wet grounds, or on such as are of a cold and tenacious 
quality. This crop occupies the ground but about three 
months; and it is only in a dry, light, mellow soil, that its 
roots can extend with sufficient facilitv, and supply the food 
necessary to b'-ing the grain to rapid and perfect maturity. 

" Rrerious Crop. Crops that precede this grain should be 
such as leave the ground mellow and free from weeds; and 
for this reason hoed crops are to be preferred, such as tur- 
nips, potatoes, peas, beans, &.c. Small grains should not 
precede it ; they impoverish the soil, leave it foul, and, be- 
sides, it is contravening one of the most salutary maxims of 
husbandry to grow two dry crops in succession. It may 
follow clover; but if the soil is heavy, the ley should be 
ploughed in autumn. Barley is successfully sown upon the 
fallows in England, (not summer, but autumn fallov/s,) and 
is sown sometimes after wheat ; but in the latter case the 
turnijjs are pulled, and previously fed upon the stubble; a 
practice which I thit\k is not likely to obtain here. I have 
generally sown barley after ruta baga or potatoes, these 
crops having received a good dressing of long yard or stable 
manure. 

" Mnnnre should not be applied to the barley, hut to the 
preceding crop. The short period thnt this grain occupies 
the ground, does not affiud time for the manure to decompf>se 
and yield its food to the plants; and, if applied in excess, it 
causes a too rank vegetation, and the straw lf)dges before 
the grain is matured. When a fallow or clover ley is em- 
ployed and ploughed in autumn, dung may be previously 
employed and ploughed under. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 135 

*' VrcpavaHon of (he Ground. Wliere barley follows a root 
or liocd crop, oim plougliin<j will generally suffice ; but itt 
all cases a complete pulverization of the soi-l is necessary; 
and to effect this a roller is often of material benefit. If 
sown upon grass leys, ploiijihed in autumn, the spring 
ploughing should be shallow, so as to leave the sod reversed. 
But the preferable way may be to harrow the fallow, plough 
in the seed with a light furrow, and smooth off with the 
harrow. 

" 3Vie Seed and Sowin^r. Loudon enumerates six species 
and sub-species of the barley. The kinds uniformly culti- 
vated here, are the two, four, and six-rowed spring, (hordcnm 
vulixnre and hordeum disliclion.) Thin-skinned, pale, plump 
seed should be selected. I sow as soon as the ground is 
sufficiently dry in sprinj;. The young grain is not hurt by 
the ordinary frosts of the latter part of April and May. I 
sow from six to eight pecks per acre, according to the rich- 
n-ess of the soil and the forwardness of the season; the poor- 
est ground and the latest sowing requiring the most seed. 
In England, the common quantify of seed is from eight to 
sixteen pecks. Our climate being much warmer than that 
of Great Britain, barley and other grains till better with us, 
and consequently we require less seed. We unif)rmly sow 
broad-cast, generally on tlie fVesh fiirrow, and harrow in 
both ways ; and those who have a roller use it in the finish- 
ing operation. It gives a smooth surface, breaks down the 
lumps, brings the earth in contact with the seed, and if grass 
seeds have been sown, its use is doubly l)eneficial. I steep 
my seeds twentv-four hours in a weak solution of nitre, the 
crude kind of which costs me only eight cents per pound 
by the quantity. From the analysis and observations of 
Grisenthwaite, there is reason to believe that this salt is 
peculiarly beneficial to the barley crop, the grain yielding it 
on analysis. 1 have made no comparative experiments, but 
I think this step serviceable. I have applied to this grain, 
as a top-dressing, with singular success, the powdered dung 
of pigeons and dunghill fowls, at the rate of twenty to tliirty 
bushels the acre. 

"The crop admits of no after-culture when sown broad- 
cast. Yet the application of the roller, when the plants are 
two or three inches high, is no doubt salutary, especially if 
there have been no cousiderable rains. Rolling gives a salu- 
tary compression to the soil, which in the spring is apt to be 
louse and porous, and full of cracks, by the alternation of 



l§& THE COMrLETE FARMER. 

freezing and tliawing, or of wet and dry weather; it de- 
stroys many insects ; and, above all, it partially buries the 
crowns of the plants, and introduces a multiplication of seed 
Btalks. I can recommend the practice from experience. 
When grass seeds are sown with barley, the luxuriance of 
the young grass sometimes chokes the grain, robs it of 
nutriment, and sensibly diminishes tbe product. To obviate 
this evil it has been recommended to sow the grass seeds 
after the barley has come up, and to cover them with a light 
harrow and a roller ; and it is said, and I think with truth, 
that this operation will not materially injure the grain. In 
dry seasons, ^the crop is sometimes attacked by worms, 
while young. In this case the roller should be applied and 
Hufficient weight added to require the draught of two or 
three cattle. 

" Time and JMilhod of Hiirveslhis;. When the soil is rich 
and the season propitious, tliis grain is very liable to lodge. 
If this happens after it has blossomed, no material injury is 
sustamed in the product; if before, the crop is greatly di- 
minished. This shows the danger to be apprehended from 
making the soil too rich, and of applying fresh manure. 
Barley is known to be ripe by the disaj)pearance of the red- 
dish cast on the ear, or what the English farmers term red 
roan; by the ears brgiiuiing to droop, and bending themselves 
round against the stems; and by the stalks becuniing brittle, 
and of a yellowish color. This is the particular period for 
cutting, as, if suifered to stand longer, the luads break off, 
and the grain wastes will) the slightest touch. And it may 
be cut with tiie cradlo, sickle, or scythe, according to cir- 
cumstances. If it stands straight, and is not too heavy, the 
cradle is to be preferred; if heavy, or lodged, the sickle or 
scythe. But as t!ie grain is yet soft, and the straw contains 
much moisture when it ought to be cut, it should be sulfered 
to become well dried in the swath before it is bound in 
sheaves, or carried to the barn or stai k. If cut with the 
cradle or sickle, it is bound in sheaves; but the more com- 
mon practice is to cut the crop with the scythe, rake the 
groimd, and load it with the barley fork. 

" Barley improves for malting by lying till Octo])er before 
it is threshed; though it is often threshed immediately from 
the field. The great diflieuUy in preparing it for market is, 
to rid it of the awns. Tnis may be done with Rails, after it 
has passed once through tlie fanning mill; and, where it is 
in great quantities, it may be spread from four to six inches 
upon the barn floor, and trodden with horses. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 137 

" Produce and Profils. The iiverajfe product in England 
is stated by Donaldson at thirty-two bushels per acre. Tlie 
product in New York varies jVom fit'teen to seventy bushels, 
according to season and soil ; and I think the average is 
son)ewhat short of that of Great Britain. Compared with 
wheat, its product is as two or two and a ha!f to one; com- 
pared with oats, about equal, provided the soil is adapted to 
this grain. It is, however, to be remembered, that neither 
wheat nor oats are adapted to a barley soil; the first re- 
quiring a more stiff and tenacious, and the latter a more cold 
and moist location. The average price of barley is at leaaSt 
two-thirds that of wheat. Supposing wheat, then, to be one 
dollar and twelve cents the bushel, and the product fifteen 
bushels per acre, and barley to be seventy-five cents, and 
the product of an acre thirty bushels, and the expense of cul- 
tivation equal, the profits of the barley will be nearly as three 
to two compared to wheat. Barley, besides, is a less preca- 
rious crop, is subject to fewer diseases, and has fewer insect 
enemies to encounter than wheat." 

A correspondent of the Bath Agricultural Society writes, 
"The last spring being remarkably dry, I soaked my seed 
barley in the black water taken from a reservoir, which con- 
stantly receives the draining of my dung heap and stables. 
As the light grains floated on the toj), I skimmed them oflf^ 
and let the rest stand twenty-f )ur hours. On taking it from 
the water, I mixed the grain with a sufficient quantity of 
sifted wood ashes, to make it spread regularly, and sowed 
three fields with it. Tlie produce was sixty bushels per 
acre. 1 sowed some other fields with the same seed dry, 
but the crop, like those of my neighbours, was very poor, m* 
more than twenty bushels per acre, and mixed with green 
corn and weeds, when harvested. I also sowed some of my 
seed dry on one ridge in each of my fields, but the produce 
was very poor, in comparison of the other parts of the field." 



MILLET. (Paniciim Miliaceum.) The stalks and leaves 
of this plant resemble those of Indian corn, though much 
smaller. It grows to the height of three or four feet. A 
sandy soil suits it best. It bears drought admirably welL 
It is said to produce as largo a quantity of grain as Indian 
corn, when cultivated in drills three feet apart and six inches 
in the rows; but owing to the difficulty in savinor the crop, 
on account of birds, of its ripening unequally, and its shelling 
12* 



iSS THE COMPLETE FARMER 

out, it is generally thought best to sow it broad-cast, and cut 
it when in tnilk for fodder. 

Mr. Reeder, of Pennsylvania, sowed one peck to the acre 
in May, and put in four acres ; cut it the middle of August, 
and dried it in the sun two or three days. He had seventy- 
five bushels of seed to the acre, and six tons of fodder on 
four acres. His cattle relished it very Avell. 

It is stated in "The Plough Boy," that millet sowed in 
June, on good ground, will give from two to four tons of fod- 
der, and from twenty to thirty bushels of seed, equal to corn 
for fattening hogs. It is cultivated in Pennsylvania and 
Maryland as a fodder crop, and cut in the milk. It is pre- 
ferred in winter by neat cattle to clover. 

"The American Farmer " gives the following very flatter- 
in<r account of this grain. Millet sown from the 1st of May 
to the !20th of June has invariably furnished more fodder 
than could have been obtained from grass under similar cir- 
cumstances. On the 5th of ^[ay, five bushels were sown on 
four acres; on the 5th of July it was harvested, and esti- 
mated at four tons per acre. It requires in all cases fine 
tilth, and as much strength of soil as is necessary to produce 
heavy oats. 

A crop of fodder can be produced if sowed as late as the 
last of July. 

Mr. N. Davenport, of Milton, Massachusetts, gives the fol- 
lowing account of growing a crop of millet : 

" From the lOtli to the !2r3d of June, I sowed about twelve 
acres of millet, at about sixteen quarts per acre. About one- 
third was on land planted the year before, and I think pro- 
duced nearly three tons per acre; the other two-thirds was 
bn green sward, ploughed and harrowed but a few days be- 
fore being sown; and on very light land, without any manure 
bn either. I had not much over one ton per acre on the 
green sward, the land being so light that it did not bear 
more than two or three hundred of hay per acre. I mowed 
my millet from the 1st to the 12th of September; and I 
found the tops of heads perfectly ripe and fit for seed." 

John Hare Powell, Esq., of Pennsylvania, has given us 
the following observations on the culture of this crop : 

" I have made many experiments on various soils, and at 
difTerent seasons, to ascertain the product as well as the prop- 
erties of millet. Upon light land, in good condition, it suc- 
ceeds best. It requires in ail cases fine tilth, and as much 
'strength of soil as is necessary to produce heavy oats. 1 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 139 

have not seen, cither in Europe or America, any green crop 
whicii so largely rewards accurate tillage and plentiful sup- 
plies of manure, as the species of millet usually grown in 
this and the adjacent counties. I have sown it from the 1st 
of May to the 20th of June, and have invariably obtained 
more t'odder than could have heen had from any grass, under 
similar circumstances. In the autunm, eighty hushels of 
caiuslic lime per acre were strewed upon an old sward, which 
was iinmedialtttj ploughed, closely harrowed, sown with rye, 
and rolled. The rye was depastured in the winter and suc- 
ceeding spring. Early in April the land was ploughed 
again; the lime and decomposed vegetable matter was thus 
returned to the surface. About three weeks after, it was 
harrowed, to destroy weeds; early in May it was again har- 
rowed fur the same purpose; within a fortnight it was stirred 
with Beatson's scarifier to the depth of nine inches, harrow- 
ed, sown with millet, and rolled. The crop was fairlv es- 
timated at three tons per acre. After the millet was cut, 
the field was stirred, and repeatedly harrowed, to destroy the 
after growth of no.xious plants. I intend to again sow rye, 
not only to obtain pasturage, but to protect the soil front the 
exhalations of the sun. In the succeeding spring, a slight 
dressing of fresli manure was ploughed under; the scarifier, 
roller, and harrow, were used at intervals as before. On the 
5th of May, five bushels of millet seeds were sown on four 
acres; on the 5th of July the crop was hauled, and estimat- 
ed at four tons per acre. I have oi)tained this season forty 
tons from sixteen acres, of which four only had been manur- 
ed; the remainder could not have borne a good wheat crop. 
One of the loads was weighed; an account of them was 
regularly kept; their size was made as nearly equal as pos- 
sible. I have generally used a large quantity of seed, as 
not more than two-thirds of that which is usually sown will 
vegetate. Whilst my oxen consumed millet in its green 
state, they performed their work with more spirit and vigor 
than they had done before, or have shown since, except 
when fed with grain. My cattle, of all ages, prefer it to 
both red and the best white clover, meadow, or timothy hay 
" I am not disposed to cultivate it as a farinaceous crop, 
since I have found great difficulty in protecting it from the 
ravages of immense flocks of birds, which it attracts, and in 
securing it sufiiciently early to prevent a large part of the 
grain from being left on the ground. The seeds on the up- 
per parts of the stalks generally ripen and fall before those 



140 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

below have been filled. I therefore invariably cut it when 
the upper parts ot' uiost of the heads contain seeds which 
are iiaid. In this stage it affords fodder more nutritious, 
and in )re easily made, than any sort of hay. The expense 
of tilling the laud, is not so great as at first view would ap- 
pear. A yuli«! of good oxen can scarify three acres and a 
half, without difficulty, in one day. I would recommetid 
millet, not merely for its value as a food, but for the means 
it atf )rds of making clean the land, without summer fallows, 
or drill crops, 'i'he ingenious arguments which have been 
adduced,' to prove that deep stirring between growing crops 
is advantageous to them and the soil, are founded upon 
English experience, properly directed by close attention to 
the etfi^cts of a moist climate. Some of our writers have 
profoundly asserted, that as ' dew drops ' are found on the 
under leaves of plants after deep stirring has been given in 
a time ot" great drought, the practice is sound. 1 should 
suggest, that moisture had better be at such times conveyed 
to the roots, than be exhaled by the sun, or placed on the 
leaves until his rays shall have exhausted it all. The valua- 
ble parts of m ist manures readily assuuie the gaseous form; 
every deep stirring, to a certain extent, in hot weather, 
theref )re, impoverishes the soil. Deep ploughing, at proper 
seasons, is, 1 conceive, the basis of all good farming. Such 
crops as shall enable the husbandman to extirpate weeds, 
and olitaiu large supplies of todder, without much exhaus- 
tion, should be the great objects for his aim. 1 would pro- 
pose tiiat a foul sward receive its proper quantity of quick- 
lime, which should be spread and ploughed under, in its 
caaslic state, in the early part of September; that the field 
be harrowed sufficiently; sown with rye at the rate of two 
bushels per acre, as early as possible; that it be depastured 
late in the autmnn and early in the spring; that in May it 
be again ploughed, three inches deeper than before; that it 
be harrowed, and left until the small weeds begin to appear. 
Early in June millet should be sown; in August the crop 
can be removed, alter the labors of the general harvest. 
The field should be slightly stirred with the scarifier, oc- 
casionally harrowed, and left throughout September, for the 
destruction of weeds, as before. In October it may be 
manured, and sown with wheat, or left for a crop of Indian 
corn." 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 141 

BUCKWFTEAT. {Poljgronura.) In light lands tir.s crop 
may be raised to advantage. In this climate it sliould nut 
be sown till after the middle of May. One .bushel is seed 
enough for an acre, if sown broad-cast, as is usual; but if 
sown in drills, less than half that quantity is sufficient. In 
the State of New York, farmers sow it in August with win- 
ter wheat. It affords them a ripe crop in the fall, without 
injuring the crop of wheat, which grows with and succeeds 
it. 

Buckwheat is harvested by mowing, in the manner of 
barley. After it is mown it should be several days before it 
i.s housed. It is in no danger of the seeds falling, nor does 
it suffer much by wet. From its great succulency it is lia- 
ble to heat in a mow, on which account it is better to put it 
into small stacks of five or six loads each, than either a large 
one, or in a barn. 

Mr. Loudon observes, "that the use of the grain of buck- 
wheat in Great Britain is ahnnst entirely for feeding poultry, 
pigeons, and swine. It may also be given to horses, which 
are said to thrive well upon it; but the author of " The New 
Farmer's Calendar," says he thinks he has seen it produce 
a stupefying effect. Young says, that " a bushel of buck- 
wheat goes farther than two bushels of oats, and mixed with 
at least four times as much bran, will he found sufficient for 
a horse a week. Fight bushels of buckwheat meal will go 
as far as twelve bushels of barley meal." 

The meal of buckwheat is made into thin cakes, called 
crumpets, in Italy, and in some parts of Kngland. Buck- 
wheat pancakes are likewise common, and thought to be 
wholesome as well as palatable, in many parts of the United 
States. Buckwheat blossoms aff'ord ri^h lixid for bees, and 
are useful as well from the quantity of honey which they 
enable the bees to make, as the long time they continue 
without fading or ceasing to be fragrant. On this account 
the buckwheat plant is highly prized in France and Ger- 
many; and Du Hamel advises bee-keepers to carry their 
hives to fields of this crop in autumn, as well as to heath 
lands. 

"The P'armer's Assistant," says, "We cannot recom- 
mend the culture of buckwheat on lands which are suitable 
for more valuable crops; but on light, smooth lands, particu- 
larly, the farmer may find his account iti keeping a Held of a 
few acres for a yearly crop of buckwheat, as well for family 
use as for assisting in falteninjr his swine, Sj.c. A bushel of 



142 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

gypsum lo the acre, or perhaps less, applied yearly to the 

gruuiid, would be found to keep it rich enough lor good 
crops." 



RICE. (Oriza Saliva.) This is a genus of plants, con- 
sisting of seveiai species, which, however, may be divided 
into two varieties, viz. mountain rice, which grows in dry, 
elevated soils, and marsh rice, sown in low swampy districts. 
The ibrmer kind was raised by Mr. Bordley, on dry, sandy 
land, near Annapolis, in Maryland. It is perhaps possible 
that this plant may be gradually introduced into the north- 
ern States, and made to grow in dry and elevated ground. 
This is much to be desired, as rice is the cheapest nutriment 
known, containing, it is said, ninety-six parts in a hundred 
of nutritive matter. 

" 'I'he Farmer's Assistant," gives the following directions 
for the culture of this plant : " Early in the spring, the 
ground is to be fitted with the plough for the reception of 
the seed, which is to be drilled in, in rows, at the distance 
of about twenty-seven inches apart. When the young plants 
have acquired a suitable height, the weeds are to be eradi- 
cated from the crop with the plough, or with a small harrow 
to be guided by handles behind, run tw.ce between the 
rows, and the work is then completed by the hoe, and per- 
haps some hand-weeding. 

" In due season after this, the water is to he occasionally 
let on the ground, for tiie purpose <if killing the weeds and 
grass; and then to be let off again, in order that the crop 
may have such farther ploughijig and hoeing as niay be 
found necessary. If water is not used, the growing crop is 
to be kept clear of weeds, like other hoed crops, till the 
ground becomes sufliciently shaded to prevent farther trou- 
ble from them. 

" The grain will be found sufficiently ripened while the 
stalks are still green; and on this account they are valuable 
as a substitute for hay. If the crop be flooded, the water is 
to be let off in due season, so that the ground can be laid 
sufficiently dry before harvesting. With regard to this ope- 
ration, we will merely observe, that he who understands the 
manner of harvesting wheat, rye, bailey, or oats, need be at 
no loss as to the best method of gathering this crop; remem- 
bering, however, that the straw should be sufficiently dried 
before threshing or stowing the crop away." 



AND RUHAL ECONOMIST. 143 

HOPS. The following waa written by William Blan- 
chard, Jun. Esq , and first published in " 'J'he New England 
r armer. 

"The hop is a native plant. It is found growing sponta- 
neously on the banks and intervals of many of our large 
rivers. There are several distinct species, all bearing a 
near affinity to eacli other; (I have noticed rive ) At present 
tiiey are cultivated together, promiscuously; no preference 
having been given to any particular one of them by the 
brewer. 

"The soil best calculated for the production of hops, is 
a sandy loam, ratlier low and moist. I am led to this con- 
clusion from my own observation, and from finding the lands 
which produce them naturally to be of this kind. Yet, I 
have seen fine crops raised on very dilferent soils. 

" 1 should recommend the following mode of preparing 
the land and managing the crf)p. In the fall (October) 
plough the land deep, nine or ten inches. In the spring I'ol- 
lowing, pass a heavy, sharp, iron-toothed harrow over the 
land, in the same direction it was ploughed; alter which, 
spread your manure evenly over the same, sixtfen cords per 
acre, and more if the land be much reduced; then cross- 
plough the land nearly the same depth, and iurrow it as for 
planting corn, the furrows to be at least tour feet apart. 

" It is customary to plant corn or potatoes with the hops; 
(I should prefer potatoes.) Plant every otiier hill in every 
other row with hops, thus placing tiie hop hills at least eight 
feet apart. Put fjur cuttings from tiie running roots, about 
eight inches in length, into each hill, and cover tliem the 
common depth of potatoes. 

" Many yards have been much injured by being planted 
too closely. It isof gr(;at importance Jo have the hills so far 
distant from each other as to admit a free current of air to 
pass through the yard. 

" All the attention requisite the first .season after the hops 
are planted, is to keep them clean from weeds, which is easi- 
ly done when hoeing the crop planted amoniTst them. In 
the fall, (October,) to prevent their being injured by tiie 
hard frosts of winter, carry on and lay out of your cart one 
shovelful of cofupost manure on the top of each hill; ma- 
nure from the h igsty I should prefer. 

" In each f)llowing spring, befue the hops are opened, 
as it is termed, spread everdy over the yard about eiuht 
cords of manure per acre, (coarse, strawy manure I should 



144 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

prefer, as it will have a tendency to keep the land loose,) 
and |)|iiiiirh the field both ways at the first hoeing. They 
require but three hoeings in a season, unless necessary to 
subdue the weeds; the last of which should be performed 
when the hops are in full blossom, (about the beginning of 
August.) 

" After the first crop, it is necessary to open the hops, 
every spring, by the middle of May; which is performed by 
making four furrows between the rows, turning the furrows 
from the hills, and running the plough as near to the same 
as possible without injuring the tnain roots. Then the eaith 
is removed from the roots with a hoe, all the running roots 
cut in, with a sharp knile, within two inches of the main 
roots; the tops of the main roots must also be cut in, and 
then the hills covered with earth about two inches deep. 

"The next thing necessary to be done is to set the poles. 
This should be done as soon as the hop-vines begin to make 
their appearance. By so doing, much time and labor will 
be saved in tying up the vines to the poles, as many of the 
vines will naturally take to the poles. There should not be 
to exceed two vines to one pole, nor to exceed two poles to' 
one hill, nor any pole to exceed sixteen feet in height. 
Many yards have been very nuich injured by letting a great- 
er number of vines grow on one pole, and almost destroyed 
by over-poling. 

" Very much depends on paying due attention, in the 
spring, to select the most thrifty vines, and training them to 
the poles, which is done by fastening them to the poles with 
a piece of yarn, slightly twisted together with the thumb and 
finger. 

"It will be necessary to inspect your hop-yard frequently, 
until the hops begin to blossom, and 'tie up the vines,' as 
it is termed, as they are subject to be blown off the poles by 
every high wind. 

" As soon as the hops are ripe, which is about the begin- 
ning of September, they must be immediately gathered, or 
the crop is lost. The quality of the hops depends consid- 
erably on their being picked clean from leaves and stems. 
The labor of picking or gathering the hops may be well per- 
formed by women and children, having one man to a bin to 
handle the poles and to inspect the pickers. The bin is a 
wooden box, about nine ("eet long, three feet wide, and two 
and a half feet high, made of thin pine boards, that it may 
be easily moved over the yard, across which the poles are 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 145 

laid, and into which the hops are picked by hand. Care 
6hould be taken, when gtitherinf^j the hops, to cut the vinea 
two feet from the ground, that tlie roots may not be injured 
by bleeding. 

" The most important part in the management of hops 13 
the curing or drying them. Here I would note, that hops 
always grow first sort, and that all second sort and refuse 
hops are made so by unfortunate or unskilful management. 

" Much depends on having a well-constructed kiln. For 
the convenience of putting the hops on the kiln, the side of 
a hill is generally chosen for its situation. C-are should bo 
taken that it be a dry situation. The kiln should be dug out 
the same bigness at the bottom as at the top ; the side walls 
laid up perpendiculaily, and filled in solid with stone, to give 
it a tunnel lorm. Twelve feet square at the. top, two feet 
square at the bottou), and at least eight leet deep, is deemed 
a convenient size. On the top of ihe walls sills are laid, 
having joists let into them in like manner as for laying a 
floor ; on which laths, about one and a half inches wide, are 
nailed, leaving open spaces between them three-fourths of 
an inch, over which a thin linen cloth is spread and nailed 
at the edges to the sills. A board about twelve inches wide 
is set up on each side of the kiln, on the inner edge of the 
sill, to form a bin to receive the hups. The larger the stones 
made use of in the construction of the kiln, the better ; as 
it will give a more steady and dense heat. The inside of 
the kiln should be well plastered with mortar to make it 
completely air-tight. Charcoal (that made from yellow birch 
or maple I should prefer) is the only fuel proper to be used 
in drying hops. The kiln should be well heated belbre any 
hops are put on, and carefully attended, to keep a steady and 
regular heat. 

"Fifty pounds of hops, when dried, is tlie largest quanti- 
ty that should be dried at one time, on a kiln of this size ; 
and unless absolutely necessary to put on that quantity, a 
less would dry better. The green hops should be spread aa 
evenly and as light as possible over the kiln. The fire at 
first should be moderate, but it may be increased as the hops 
dry and the steam is evaporated. 

" Hops should not remain long in the bin or bag after they 
are picked, as they will very soon heat and become insijiid. 
The hops should not be stirred on the kiln until they are 
completely and fully dried. Then they should be removed 
from the kiln into a dry room, and laid in a heap, and there 
13 



146 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

remain. Tinmoved and unstirred, until bagged, which is done' 
with a screw, having a box made ot' plank, tlie size the bag 
is wislied, into which tlie cloth is laid, and the hops screwed 
into the box, which is so constructed that the sides may be 
removed, and the bag sewed together while in the press. 

"The hops, after laying a few days, will gather a partial 
moisture, called a sweat. The sweat will probably begin to 
subside in about eight days, at which time, and before the 
sweat is off, they ought to be bagged in clear dry weather. 
As the exact time when the hops will begin to sweat, and 
when the sweat will begin to subside or dry off, (the proper 
time to bag them,) will vary with the state of the atmos- 
phere, it will be necessary to examine the hops from day to 
day, which is easily done by taking some of them from the 
centre of the heap with your hand. If on examination you 
find the hops to be very damp, and their color altering, which 
will be the case if they were not conipletely dried on tlie 
kiln, and not otherwise, you must overhaul them and dry 
them in the air. 

" The most convenient size for a bag of hops, to handle 
and transport, is al)out five feet in length, and to contain 
about two hundred and fifty pounds. The best bagging is 
coarse, stnmg tow cloth, of our domestic manufacturing; next 
to that, Russia hemp bagging. The East India sugar and 
gunny bags, so called, ouglit never to be used. The sugar 
bags are of an unreasonable weight, and both they and the 
gunny bags are of no value to the brewer ; whereas the 
other bags are worth prime cost. 

" It is now common for those who have entered consider- 
ably into the cultivation of hops, to build houses over their 
kilns, whicl), in wet weather, are very convenient ; other- 
wise, a kiln in the open air would be preferable. It is neces- 
sary to have these buildings well ventilated with doors and 
windows • and to have them kept open night and dav, ex- 
cept in wet weather, and tlien shut those only which are 
necessary to keep out the rain. If a ventilator was put in 
the roof of the building, directly over the centre of the kiln, 
about six feet square, built like those in breweries and dis- 
tilleries, they would be found very advantageous. I have 
seen many lots of hops much injured both in color and flavor 
by being dried in close buildings. 

" Where the houses over the kilns are built large, for the 
purpose of storing the ho|)s as they are dried, which is a 
great saving of labor, a close partition should be made be- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 147 

tween the kilns and the room in which the hops are stored, 
to prevent the damp steam from the kihis coming to them, as 
it will color them, and injure their flavor and qualify very 
much. 

*' I expect that many of our farmers will object to the 
mode of manuring hops which I have recornmended, their 
common practice being to put the manure in the hills when 
they plant the hops, and afterwards to apply the manure on 
the hills at the tirst and second hocings. 1 find the hop- 
roots are very liable to be injured by the worms, and to de- 
cay. My opinion is, that the manure in the hill has a ten- 
dency to produce the worms, and its fermentation at their 
roots to cause their decay ; and that the crop is not more, if 
as abundant, as wht>n manured in the manner I have recom- 
mended ; and, farther, that a hop-yard manured in this 
manner will continue in a healthy state for many years. 

"I also expect the quantity of manure I have recommend- 
ed will be objected to by many, it being the c()nnn!)nly 
received opinion, that hops should have little or no manure. 
I find it a general complaint amongst the farmers where hops 
have been cultivated many years, that the quantity raised 
per acre does not exceed the one half raised by their ances- 
tors on the same land ; inferring that the ' hops are running 
out,' as it is termed, and canimt nosv be cultivated to ad- 
vantage. Hops, in common with all sorts of grain and veg- 
etables, flourish best and produce the finest crops wlien 
cultivated on new lands, wliich require little or no manure ; 
and such were the lands which their ancestors cuitivatcd- 
The same complaint, I presume, would be made against all 
shorts of grain and vegetables, if raised with little or no 
manure, on lands that have long been cultivated." 



PEA, (Pisum Sativum.) The pea is a nardy annual, a 
native of the south of Europe, cultivated in Great Britain 
from time immemorial, and in this country from its first set- 
tlement. 

'J'imes of Sou-lns!. "The dwarfs are generally employed 
in hotbed culture, which, however, succeeds badly, and i:? 
neither worth preserving nor describing, and the less so, as 
early crops may be ntore certainly had by sowing in the tali, 
in sheltered sitimtions, and (hovering durins the winter with 
a layer of leaves, and another of long stable-litter, loosely 



148 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

applied, to keep the leaves in their places. After the earth 
takes a temperature favorable to vegetation, your pea sow- 
ings should be made once a fortnight, to keep up a regular 
end successive supjily." — Jlnnsiruiiix. 

Quantity of Seed. " Of the small, early kinds, one pint 
will sow a row of twenty yards ; for the larger sorts, for 
main crops, the same measure v, ill sow a row of thirty-three 
yards." 

Process in Sowing-. " For early sorts, make tlie drills one 
inch and a half deep ; and let parallel drills be two feet and 
a half, three, or four feet asunder. Peas that are to grow 
M-ithout sticks require tlie least room. For summer crops 
and large sorts, make the drills two inches deep, and four, 
five, or six feet asunder. As to the distances along the drill, 
distribute the peas according to their size and the season ; 
the frame, three in the space of an inch ; the Charltons, 
Hotspur, and dwarf marrowfat, two in an inch ; the Prus- 
sian blue and middle-sized sorts, three in two inches ; the 
large marrowfat and Knight's, a full inch apart; the moratto, 
rouncivals, and most larger sorts, an inch and a half apart ; 
and the Patagonian, two inches." 

Soil and Siluulion. " The soil should be moderately rich, 
and the deeper and stronger for the lofty growers. Peas 
are not assisted, but hurt, by unreduced dung recently turned 
in. A fresh, sandy loarn, or road-stuff, and a little decom- 
posed vegetable matter, is the best manure. The soil for 
the early crops sliould be very dry, and rendered so, where 
the ground is moist, by mixing sand with the earth of the 
drills." — London. 

Armstrong says, " A loose and warm soil is most favor- 
;ihle to this vegetable, which, by the way, is neitlier improv- 
ed in quality nor quantity by stable manure. The soil of 
Clichy, and of Point de Jour des Colombe, Stc, in the 
neighbourhood of Paris, is a pure sand, principally devoted 
to pea crops, and yielding these most abundantly without the 
application of dung, new or old." 

Subsequent Cullure. "As the plants rise from half an 
inch high to two or three inches, begin to draw earth to the 
stems, doing this when the ground is in a dry state, and 
earthing gradually higher as the stems ascend. At the same 
time, ',vith the hoe, loosen the ground between the young 
plants, and cut down rising weeds. Early crops should be 
protected during haid frosts by dry straw or other light lit- 
ter, laid upon sticks or brushwood ; but reipove the cover- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 149 

injr as soon as the weather turns mild. If, in April, May, 
and the course of the summer, dry weather occurs, watering 
will he necessary, especially to plants in blossom and svell- 
ing the fruit ; and this trouble will he repaid in the produce. 
Rows partly cut off may he made up by transplanting. In 
dry weather, water, and in hot weather, shade, until the 
plants strike. All peas fruit better for sticking, and ctmtiuue 
longer productive, especially the larger sorts. Stick the 
plants when from six to twelve inches high, as soon as tliey 
begin to vine. Provide branchy sticks of such a heigiit as 
the sort will require ; for the frame and Leadman's dwarf, 
three feet liigh ; for the Charlton and middle-sized, tour or 
five feet ; for the marrowfat and larger kinds, six or eight 
feet ; f )r the rouncival, and for Knight's marrow-pea, nine 
or ten feet. Place a row of sticks to ea<;h line of peas, on 
the most sunny side, east or south, tiiat the attraction of the 
snn may incline the plants towards the sticks. Place about 
half the number on the opposite side, and let both rows 
stand rather wider at top than at the ground. Some 
gardeners stop the leading slioot of the most early crop 
when in hlo.ssom ; a device which accelerates the setting 
and maturity of the fruit. 

To forward an cnrbj Crop. " Sow or plant in lines from 
east to west, and stick a row of spruce-fir [or other ever- 
green] branches along the north side of every row, and slop- 
ing so as to bend over the plants, at one foot or eighteen 
inches from the ground. As the plants advance in height, 
vary the position of the bran(;hes, so as they may ahvavs 
protect thein from perpendicular cold or rain, and yet leave 
them open to the full influence of the spring sun. Some 
cover, during nights and in severe weather, with two boaids, 
nailed together lengthwise, at right angles, which n)rins a 
very secure and easily-managed* covering, but excludes 
light. A better plan would be to glaze one of the sides, to 
be kept to the south, and to manage such row-glasses, as 
they might be called, wlien over peas, beans, spinage, &c,, 
as hand-glasses are managed when over caulifl iwer; that is, 
to take them off in fine weather, or raise them constantly or 
occasionally by brickbats, or other props, as the weather 
and the state of the crop might require." — Loudon. 

Mann<^i'menl of a lale Crop. The best variety for this 
purpose is Knight's marrow-pea, whiih mav be sown at in- 
tervals of ten (lays from the beginning to the end of .June. 
"The ground is dug over in the usual way, and the spaces 
13* 



150 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

to be occupied by the future rows of peas are well soaked 
with water. Ihe mould upon each side is then collected, so 
as to form ridges seven or eight inches above the previous 
level of the ground, and these ridges are well watered. The 
seeds are now sown in single rows, along the tops of the 
ridges. The plants grow vigorously, owing to the depth of 
soil and abundant moisture. If dry weather at any time set 
in, water is applied profusely once a week. In this way, 
the plants continue green and vigorous, resisting mildew, 
and yielding fruit till subdued by frost." — Hart. Trans. 
Vol. II. 

To save Seed. " Like other vegetables, the pea is sus- 
ceptible of considerable improvement, and by the simple 
means of marking the iinest plants of each variety, and 
keeping them for seed. Wilson's frame and the Knight pea 
have been formed in this way, and afford sutficient ])roof of 
the wonders produced by a very small degree of observation 
and care." — Armstrons:. 

Field-cullure of the Pea. The most common mode of 
sowing peas is broad-east; but the advantages of the row 
culture, in a crop so early committed to the ground, must 
be obvious. Loudon says, " In Kent, where immense quan- 
tities of peas are raised, both for gathering green and for 
selling ripe to the seedsmen, they are generally sown in 
rows from eighteen inches to three feet asunder, according 
to the kind, and well cultivated between. Peas laid a foot 
])elow the surface will vegetate ; but the mo.-^t approved 
depth is si.x inches in light soil, and four inches in clay soil; 
for which reason they ought to be sown under furrow when 
the ploughing is delayed till sj)ring. Of all grain, beans ex- 
cepted, they are in the least danger of being buried too 
deep." — Loudon. 

Deane observed, that "for field peas, land that is newly 
ploughed out of sward is generally accounted best ; and 
land which is high and dry, and has not been much dunged. 
A light, loamy soil, is most suitable for tliem ; and if it 
abound with slaty stones, it is the better. But they will do 
in any dry soil. The manures that suit peas best are marl 
and lime. Our farmers do not commonly allow a sufficient 
quantity of seed for peas, in broad-cast sowing. When peas 
are sowed thin, the plants will lie on the ground, and per- 
haps rot; when they are thick, the plants will hold each 
other up with thc.'ir tenihih, forming a continued web, and 
will have more benefit of the air." 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. I5l 

Insects and Diseases. "The Massachusetts Agricultural 
Repository," for June, 1822, contains some remarks of the 
Hon. T. Pickering, relative to a bug or fly, [bruclius pisi,) 
which preys on the pea, in wiiich he observes, that an 
efl'eclual remedy for this evil is late soiling; but the hot sun 
of June will so pinch the vines of the late sown peas, tiiat 
the crop will be small, unless the land be moist as well as 
rich. He then details some experiments, by which he con- 
cludes, that this insect is limited to a certain period for 
depositing its eggs; and if the tender pods are not found till 
that period has passed, the peas will be free from bugs. 
Colonel VVorthington, of Rensellaer county. New York, 
" sowed his peas on the 10th of June, six years in succes- 
sion, and a bug has never been seen in his peas; whereas 
his neighbours, who have not adopted this practice, have 
scarcely a pea without a bug in it. He supposes the season 
for depositing the egg of the pea-bug is passed before the 
peas are in flower." — JV/tmoJrs oj' JVtw York Board of 
JiiXricullurc, Vol. II. p. 23. " The only insect that com- 
monly injures our peas, is a small brown bug or fly, the egg 
[or larva] of which is deposited in them when they are 
young, and the pods easily perforated. The insect does not 
come out of its nest till he is furnished with short wings. 
They diminish the peas in which tiiey lodge nearly one half, 
and their leavings are fit only for the food of swine. The 
bugs, however, will be all gone out if you keep them to the 
following autumn. But they who eat buggy peas the winter 
after they are raised, must run the venture of eating the 
insects." — Denne's jYew England Farmer. 

The same writer recommends, when seed peas are known 
or suspected to contain insects, to scald them a quarter of a 
minute in boiling water, spread them about, and sow them 
without delay. If any of the bugs should be in the peas, 
this scalding will destroy them; and the peas, instead of be- 
ing hurt, will come up the sooner, and grow the faster. 

Mildew is another evil attending peas, especially such as 
are sown late in the season. This disorder is supposed by 
Knight, to be caused by " a want of a sufficient supply of 
m 'isture from the soil, with excess of humidity in the air, 
particularly if the plants be exposed to a temperature below 
that to which they have been accustomed." The remedy 
which he recommends is, to "give water rather j)rofusely 
once a week, or nine days, even if the weather proves show- 
ery." — See JVew England Farmer, Vol. I. p. 414. 



152 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

Use. The use of peas for soups and other culinary pur- 
poses is well known. They are likewise very serviceable in 
fattening hogs, for which purpose they should be harvested, 
dry, and ground into meal. If the straw be forward in au- 
tumn, and has been harvested without injury, it will be little 
inferior to ordinary hay for feeding cattle. 

" In boiling split peas, some samples, without reference to 
variety, fall or moulder down freely into pulp, while otlKirs 
continue to maintain their form. The former are called 
boilers. This property of boiling, depends on the soil; stiff 
land, or sandy land that has been limed or marled, uniformly 
produces peas that will not melt in boiling, no matter what 
the variety may be." — Loudon. 

" When peas are sown before winter, or early in spring, 
they are very apt to be eaten by mice. To prevent this, 
soak the peas for a day or two in train oil before you sow 
them, which will encourage their vegetation, and render 
them so obnoxious to the mice that they will not eat them." 
— Domestic Encyclopedia. 



BEANS. Loudon gives the following directions for the 
cultur(! of runners, or pole-beans, as they are commonly call- 
ed in this country: — 'J'he runner kidney beans may be sown 
in a small portion towards the end of April, [about the mid- 
dle of May in New England,] if tolerably warm, dry weath- 
er ; but as these beans are rather more tender than the 
dwarf sorts, more liable to rot in the ground by wet and 
cold, especially the scarlets, the beginning or middle of May 
[tirst of June in New England] will be time enough to sow 
a considerable crop; and you may sow a full crop about the 
beginning of June. Allot principally the scarlet and large 
white runners. Some Dutch runners are very eligible as a 
secondary crop. The first crops sliould have the assistance 
of a south wall. Intermediate crops may be sown in any 
open compartment, or against any fence not looking north. 
The latest sown will continue bearing hmger under a good 
as[)ect and shelter. In sowing, draw drills about an inch 
and a half, or not more than two inches deep. Let parallel 
rows be at least four feet asunder, to admit in the intervals 
tall sticks or poles for the plants to climb on. Place the 
beans in the drills four inches apart, and earth them in even- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST 153 

ly the depth of the drills. A row contiguous to a fence or 
building may ascend upon lines. Some may be sown in n 
single row along a border, or on each sida of a walk, and 
havo the support of a slight trellis of laths and lines ; or 
they might be arched over with similar materials, to form a 
shady walk or bower. In a cold, wet season, or when re- 
quisite to have a few plants more forward than the general 
crop, some scarlets may be sown in April, either in a slight 
hotbed, or in pots, under frames of hand-glasses, to raise 
and forward the plants, till two or three inches high ; then, 
at the end of May, transplant thom into the open garden. 
As the plants come up, and advance from three to six inches 
in growth, hoe some earth to the stems, cutting down all 
weeds. When they begin to send forth runners, place suita- 
ble supports to each row; and conduct the tendrils to the 
sticks or lines, turning them in a contrary direction to the 
sun. The ascending plants will soon come into flower, pod- 
ding at the joints, in long succession. They are so prolific, 
that the returns from three sowings, in May, June, and July, 
will last from July till October. 

Taking (he Crop. Gather the pr)ds, both from dwarfs and 
runners, while they are young, fleshy, brittle, and tender, for 
then they are in the highest perfection for the table ; and 
the plants will bear more fully, and last longer in fruit, under 
a course of clean gathering, not leaving any superabundant 
pods to grow old. 

To save Seed. Either sow a portion for that object, or 
leave rows wholly imgathcred of the main crop, or preserve 
a sufliciency of good pods promiscuously. The beans saved 
should be the first fruits of a crop sown at a period which 
throws the entire course of growth into the finest part of 
summer. Let them hang on the stalks till they ripen fully, 
in August and September ; then let the haulm be pulled up 
and placed in the sun, to dry and harden the seed, which 
should be afterwards cleared out of the husks, bagged up, 
and housed. 

The pea, English bean, and kidney bean, are liable to th* 
attacks of various insects, especially the aphides, [plant lice,^ 
in dry seasons. When early crops are newly sown or plant 
ed, mice will burrow for and eat the seed, and when it be- 
gins to penetrate the soil, it is attacked by snails, slugs, the 
cut-worm, &.c. The usual means of guarding against the 
ravages of insects must, therefore, be resorted to by the 
gardener. 



154 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

As regards the field -culture of the bean, we would observe, 
that the wliite kind, whicii is most generally approved of in 
New England, will produce pretty good crops on poor, 
sandy, or gravelly soils ; but, when planted on such ground, 
it is good husbandry to wet and roll them in plaster before 
planting. They may be planted in hills or drills, the rows 
tA\'o and a half or three feet apart, according to the strength 
of the soil, and cultivated like other hoed crops. They may 
bo planted the latter end of May, or beginning of June, or 
about the time of planting Indian corn. If planted in hills, 
they may be placed from fourteen to twenty-four inches apart 
in the rows, and the rows the distance before mentioned, 
p^ive beans are quite enough to remain in a hill. Hogs' 
dung, mixed with ashes, is said to be the best manure for 
them ; and it is said to be very injurious to beans to hoe 
them while the dew is on, or in wet weather. 

Judge Buel, of Albany, has given the following notices 
of some experiments in the field-culture of this vegetable : 
"Beans may be cultivated in drills or in hills. They are a 
valuable crop ; and, with good care, are as profitable as a 
wheat crop. They leave the soil in good tilth. The China 
bean, with a red eye is to be preferred. They ripen early, 
and are very productive. I cultivated beans the last year 
in three ditlerent ways, viz. in hills, in drills, and sowed 
broad-cast. I need not describe the first, which is a well- 
known process. I had an acre in drills, which was the best 
crop 1 ever saw. My management was this ; on an acre 
of light ground, where the clover had been frozen out the 
preceding winter, I spread eight loads of long manure, and 
immediately ploughed and harrowed the ground. Drills or 
furrows were then made with a light plough, at the distance 
of two and a half feet, and the beans thrown along the fur- 
rows, about the 25th of May, by the hand, at the rate of at 
least a bushel on the acre. I then gauged a double mould- 
board plough, which was passed once between the rows, and 
was followed by a light one-horse roller, which flattened the 
ridges. The crop was twice cleaned of weeds, by the hoe, 
but not earthed. The product was more than forty-eight 
bushels, by actual measurement. The beans brought me 
one dollar the bushel last fall. The third experiment was 
likewise upon a piece of ground where the clover had been 
killed. It was plouglied al)out the 1st of June, the seed 
sown like peas, upon the fhst fiirrow, and harrowed in. The 
drought kept them back; but about sixty-five rods of ground. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 155 

on which the experiment was made, gave a product of twelve 
and a half bushels. The crop was too ripe when it was har- 
vested, and as it was cut with a scythe, I estimated that 
about two and a half bushels were left upon the jjround. No 
labor was bestowed upon them frouj the time they were sown 
till they were harvested. 



SWINE. Notwithstanding their evil propensities, filthy 
and mischievous habits, and insatiable voracity, swine are 
very profitable animals to a farmer. Indeed, every family 
in which there is any cooking done should keep at least one 
hog, always confined in a proper pen, in order to consume 
the washing of pots, dishes, refuse food, &.c. 

As much depends on the breed of swine as of any domes- 
tic, animal, as relates to the profit of keeping. The old- 
fashioned, thin, long-legged, long-nosed, gaunt-bodied hogs 
are now, we believe, hardly tolerated in New England, and 
are becoming as scarce as they are ugly and unprofitable. 
We are but little acquainted with the dilfereiit breeds of their 
successors, and shall not therefore assume the responsibility 
of recommending any particular race. O. Fiske, Esq., of 
Worcester, an able, enlightened, and patriotic cultivator, 
says, " My hogs are of the Bedford breed, so called in Eng- 
land ; and experience has proved to my satisfaction that this 
breed is far the best that has been introduced into our coun- 
try. They are quiet in their nature, fat easy, and with little 
expense or trouble. I have had some weigh at twelve months 
old about three hundred and f)rty pounds, and a considera- 
ble number of eighteen months old four hundred pounds." 

"The marks of a good hog are, a moderate length in pro- 
portion to the size of the body ; the nose short ; the cheek 
plump and full ; neck thick and short ; quarters full ; car- 
cass thick and full ; hair fine and thin ; with a synmietry 
adapted to the breed to which it belongs. Above all, it is es- 
sential that it be of a kindly disposition to fatten early." 

The sow should he selected with great care, broad and 
straight-backed; wide hips; a great many teats ; short legs, 
and fine bone. It is said that the sow will produce the 
stronger and better litter if not allowed to breed till a year 
old, and the boar should not be younger than tiiat age when 
put to sows. Sows may be allowed to breed till they are six 
years old, and boars till five ; and both be made good pork 



156 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

after this period, by methods which do not require descrip- 
tion. One male, according to " Tlie Complete Crazier," 
should not be permitted to have access to more than ten fe- 
males in a year. Sows will usually have pigs twice a year, 
and should be put to the males at such times as will bring 
one litter in April and another early in September. 

" Those sows are accounted the best breeders," says 
" The Farmer's Assistant," " which have about ten or 
twelve paps. Tkey should be kept clean and well littered ; 
but should not have too much litter at the time of pigging, 
lest they overlay their pigs in it. At the end of a week or 
ten days, they should be let out of their sties into the yard 
for three or four hours each day. Where several sows are 
farrowing about the same time, they must be kept in sepa- 
rate apartments in the sty, lest they devour the pigs of each 
other. Young sows will sometiines eat their own offspring, 
which may be prevented, by washing the backs of the pigs 
in an infusion of aloes ; and, for this purpose, the sows 
must be watched. It is said that supplying them with plenty 
of water at this time will prevent any mischief taking place 
of this kind." 

J\[r. Featherstonhaugh says, "Farmers differ much in 
their plans of raising stock for pork ; some permitting their 
shoats to run at large eighteen months, till they are penned 
up to fatten ; this is the most troublesome and least profita- 
ble way ; others give them a range in clover pastures, and 
begin to fatten them earlier. I apprehend there is a much 
more profitable way, and attended with less trouble for those 
who have the right breed. According to the quantity of 
pork wanted should be the number of breeding sows kept 
over, and there sliould be no other hogs on the farm [that is, 
kept over winter] but the breeding sows. These, when they 
pig the latter end of March, should be fed in tho most at- 
tentive manner, with swill and shorts. The pigs from a full- 
grown sow will generally be twelve in number; these should 
be thinned down to eight, and as soon as they begin to feed 
freely out of the trough should be weaned, and afterwards 
fed regularly with green tares, clover, boiled potatoes, ground 
peas, unmerchantable corn, or any other nourishing food ; 
turning them out every day into a small yard, where there 
is a shallow pond for them to lie in. A remarkable breed 
of pigs, which had been treated pretty much in this manner, 
were exhibited at Dnanesburgh fair; when eight months old, 
one of them was slaughtered, and weighed exactly three 



AND nURAL ECONOMIST. 157 

hundred and eleven pounds ; they all attracted universal at- 
tention, and I never saw such animals before. This method, 
as it is attended with httle trouhh^, and leaves so small a 
quantity of stock on hand to winter over, appears to me to 
be more economical, in every point of view, than any other 
which is practised."* In the county of Rensellaer, New 
York, some farmers assert, tliat " March pigs, killed about 
Christmas, are tlie most profitable for pork." Others say, 
" pigs ought never to come until June; for the cost of earlier 
pigs exceeds the profit." And, farther, we learn that " the 
methods proposed for fattening hogs by the different farmers 
in that county are very various. General H. IMoffit, H. 
Pkitl, Esq., Colonel Worthington, Messrs. J. Phillips, A 
Bush, and some others, recommend keeping hogs in pas- 
tures, with some slops from the dairy, &.C., till near the last 
of Augu.st; some say a little later. All agree that near this 
time they manifest a disrelish for grass. Small patches of 
peas, or even of corn, will then be convenient to turn them 
into for a few weeks. About the first of September begin 
with boiled |)otatoes and pumpkins, rnashed together, with a 
little Indian meal, ground oats and peas, or other grain, 
stirred into the mixture after it cools. From two to four 
we( ks before killing time, the food should be dry Indian 
corn, and clean cold water. Mr. Yonghans fattens his hogs 
in a large yard or field, with a shelter in it to which they 
may retire to sleep. But elder Turner says, hogs should 
never know what liberty is, but should be kept close all their 
lives, and as inactive as possible ; that with this method 
double the quantity of pork can be produced with the samo 
expense of feed."!" 

The practice in Scotland is, to rear swine chiefly on raw 
potatoes, and to fatten them on these roots, boiled or prepar- 
ed by steam, with a mixture of oats, barley, or bean and 
pea-meal. Their troughs should be often re|)lenished with 
a small quantity of food at a time, and ke[)t always clean, 
and seas ned occasionally with salt. J " 'I'he Farmer's 
Magazine " says, "The outside leaves of cabbages, salted 
and let stand a month, and then mixed with buttermilk, will 
fat a bog in three weeks." Mr. Marshall says, (" Midland 
Counties," Vol. V. p. 453,) " Young pigs require loarni 



* IMemoirs of tlie New York Board of Agriculture, Vol. I. p. 332. 

f .^leriKiiis (if the New York Bfuird of Agriculture, Vol. II. pp. 39, 40. 

i Ut-port of Agriculture in Scuilund. 

14 



158 THE COMPLETE FAiIaER 

meat to make them s;row. Corn and cold water will n>ako 
Ihoin healthy; bul warm beveriige is considered as requisite 
to a quick growth." 'J'ho same writer mentions another 
practice, wltich perhaps it may be thought proper to imitate 
in tiiis country, because it saves labor and care. Some 
English farmers, he says, "keep two or three little store 
pigs in the fatting sty. While the I'atting hogs are taking 
their repast, the little ones wait behind them, and as soon as 
tljeir betters are served, lick out the troughs. 

" Besides the advantage of having by this expedient no 
waste nor foul troughs, tliere is another. The large pigs 
rise alertly to their food, lest the small ones should forestall 
them; and fill themselves the fuller, knowing that they have 
tt not again to go to. 

" The disadvantage of this practice is, I understand, the 
huge ones are apt to lord it too much over tiie little ones; 
especially in a confined sty. If, however, they had a sepa- 
late apartment assigned them, with an entrance too small for 
the fatting swine to follow tiiem, this disadvantage would be 
in a great measure remedied." 

If one wishes to fatten hogs, and either front indolence or 
too much occu|)ation does not expect to give them a con- 
slant and regular attention, perhaps he may adopt to advan- 
tage the following mode, pointed out by an English writer. 
*' Mr. John Adams, of Cherrington, near Newport, Shrop- 
shire, has fattened eight pigs in the following cheap and easy 
manner: he places two troughs in the sty, one he fills with 
raw potatoes, the other with peas, and gives no water; when 
the pigs are dry they eat the potatoes. The eight pigs were 
fattened so as to weigh from sixteen to twenty score each, 
and ate no more than thirty bushels of peas, and about two 
hundred bushels of potatoes." No doubt dry Indian corn 
and potatoes might be fed out in this way with as good an 
effect as peas and potatoes. 

Rubbing and currying the hides of fattening hogs is of 
great advantage to them. It is not only very grateful to 
them, but conducive to their health. It will be well, like- 
wise, in every sty to place a strong post tor the animals to 
rub against. During the time of their fattening they should 
have plenty of litter, which will be a double advantage, pro- 
viding for the comfort of the animal and increasing the 
quantify of manure. 

Boiled or steamed clover hay will, it is said, keep store 
hogs in the winter, but the addition of boiled or steamed po- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 159 

tatoos or carrote- will much increase the value of the waslx. 
Mr. Young directs to soil or I'ted swine in a yard on clt>ver, 
cut up wiih a scythe, in preference to pasturing theiii in the 
field. But Judge Peters, of Pennsylvania, says, "In sum- 
mer my liogs chiefly run on clover. Swine feeding on clover 
in the (iekis will thrive wonderfully; when those (confined or 
not) fed on cut clover will fall away." In Indian harvest, 
the unripe ears of corn siiould be picked out and given to 
the hdgs as fast as they can eat them. Soft corn (as it i« 
called) will do them much more good in a green than in a 
dried state, and it is very dilHcull to dry it without its turn- 
ing mouldy. 

There is a great advantage in boiling, steaming, or baking 
almost all soits of food given to swine. The last American 
edition of "The Domestic Encyclopedia," informs, that 
"Mr. Timothv Kirk, of Yorktown, Pennsylvania, fed one 
pig with boiled potatoes and Indian corn, and another with 
the same articles unboiled. T'.\e two animals were weighed 
every week, and the difference between them was as six to 
nine. The experiment was continued several weeks, and 
the animals alternately fed upon boiled and unboiled food, 
with a uniformity of result, which sufficiently showed the 
very great profit arising from boiled food." Steaming will 
answer as good a purpose as boiling, and with a proper ap- 
paratus may he more easily and cheaply effected.* Potatoes, 
meal, and a little linseed boiled together, make a rich and 
excellent wash. Boiled linseed, it is said, has a tendency to 
make pork soft and oily, and should therefore be but little if 
at all used towards the close of the time in which hogs are 
fattening. (irains of distilleries and the refuse of starchi 
factories are excellent for fattenin*; swine. Sweet apples are 
very good food for them, and a change of diet pretty oftea 
promotes their health and quickens the process of fattening. 
Their meals should frequently be seasoned with a little salt. 
" The Complete Farmer," says, that " moist sedgy grounds 
are good for swine, the roots which grow in such soils thev 
will eat; likewise brakes, ground-nuts, acorns, chestnuts," 
&.C. Dr. Anderson said, tliat the hogs that are fed upon the 
acctrns that they gather in the woods of Germanv and Poland 
are reckoned to yield the finest bacon of any in Europe: and 
it is to this that most people ascribe the superior excellence 
of West|)lialia hams. It might be well to try acorns, steamed 



* See New Eiiglaiid Farmer, Vol. 1. p. 23, 



160 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

or boiled, in order to correct their crudeness and bitterness; 
and it has been recommended to moisten tiiem, and keep 
them on hand till they begin to sprout, when they will be 
more sweet and nutritious than in their original state. " The 
Complete Farmer" asserts, that "when hogs are fatted enlire- 
hj on acorns, chestnuts, and other productions of the forest, 
the flesh will eat much better and sweeter than if fattened in 
a sty. Some indeed say their ("at will not be so solid, nor so 
prolitahle, and therefore they commonly shut them up a week 
or ten day>', and feed them with dry peas; but this is a mis- 
take, experience harini^ shown that /joi»s failed with aconis 
onlif have their fat as solifl as those fadtd tvilh peas." If this 
be correct, the value of acorns as t'ood for swine is not gene- 
rally known in those parts of the U.nited States with uhich 
we have been acquainted. We have seen places in the 
iieiglibourhood of farmers' dwellings where bushels might be 
had for stooping, but were as much neglected as if they had 
been pebble stones. 'J'he acorns recommended are, we be- 
lieve, those of the white oak; and whether the acorns of the 
numerous other kinds of oak are of any value as food for 
swine we cannot say. It might be well to try them, not only 
raw, but boiled or steamed, and likewise ground into meal, 
and given with, as well as without other mixtures. We sus- 
pect that acorns alone would prove astringent, and if so, they 
might be qualified with a trough full of ruAv potatoes. 

Carrots, according to Mr. Yotmg, are better than pota- 
toes, and some other writers assure us, that parsnips are bet- 
ter than cither for feeding hogs. An English writer s.iys, 
"They fatten all their pork in the island of Jersey with 
parsnips. They are much more saccharine than carrots, and 
it is well known that nothing fattens a hog i'asler or makes 
finer pork than the sugar-cane: " and we are told, that pars- 
nips, suffered to remain in the ground where they grew 
throtigh the winter, and drawn in the spring, and boiled, tops 
and bottoms, made most excellent food for swine when other 
fo: d was scarce. 

Acid or fermented food for swine has been highly recom- 
mended. ]Mr. Arthur Young, whose authority amon<ist hus- 
bandmen is almost equal to that of the pope with Roman 
Catholics, says, " that the n)ost profitable method of con- 
verting corn of any kind into food for hogs is, to grind it into 
meal, and mix this with wafer in cisterns, in the |)roportion 
of five bushels of meal to one hundred gallons water; stir- 
ring it well several times a day for three weeks in cold 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. IGl 

wcafhor, or a fortniglit in a wanner season, by which it will 
have fermented well and become acid, till which it is not 
ready to give. The mixture should always be stirred im- 
mediately l)eiore feeding, and two or tiiree cisterns should 
be kept I'ermenting in succession, that no necessity may oc- 
cur of giving it ni)t duly prepared." Judge Peters, of" Penn- 
sylvania, whose autliorify is, in our opinion, not interior to 
that of any man who ever wrote on agricultural topics, says, 
in substance, that " snur food is most grateful and alimenta- 
ry to swine. One gallon of sour wash goes farther than two 
of sweet." But 

All Englisl) work, entitled "Farmer's Calender," (author's 
nanje not given,) declares, that " much has been said, and 
little understood, about purposily souring food for hogs. It 
is not that acitlity can possibly tend to pinguefaction, [mak- 
ing fat,] but it is f)und the pigs will readily fatten upon acid, 
or rather acescent food, a sweetish taste and glutinous quality 
succeeding fermentation; and that thcij will do su slill more 
readily upon sack as has 7tever reached the acid slate, I kiwio 
and h;ire seen in hundfcds of inslances. Is a proof" wanted ? 
How much more readily do the country hogs fr-ed upon 
sweet and unl"ermented food, than those of the starch-house 
upon the fermented and subacid wash, however rich. I say 
subacid, tor did nit starch-cnakers run otF a great part of 
that which is really sour, they would kill instead of f"attea 
tlieir hogs." 

In order to reconcile these writers, it will only be necessary 
to advert to the different stages of ordinary fermentation, 
and the products of each stage. The first stage of fermen- 
tation produces sugar, and is called the saccharine fermenta- 
tion. The second stage developes alcohol, or spirit of wine^ 
and is called the vinous fermentation. The third stage pro- 
duces vinegar, and is called ihe acid fermentation; and the 
fourth and last sfage converts the matter fermenting into a 
substance which is not only ofTensive, but poisonous, and is 
called the putrid f"ermentation. Thus if you soak wheat or 
other farinaceous substance in water of a proper temperature, 
it will first become sweet, and begin to sprout or vegetate; 
it will next afford spirit or alcohol; continue the process, the 
wash turns sour, at first slightly, and then more strong y 
acid; and at last the whole becomes putrid. It probably 
contains mo.st nourishment when it is sweetest, but it is valu- 
ai»le till very sour, when it is worth little or nothing; and 
when the putrid f"ermentation has commenced it is worse 
14* 



IC^ THE COMPLETE FARMER 

than nothing, as food for any animal. The farmer then 
should give liis wash to his pigs while it is yet sweet, or but 
beginning to turn sour. 

Fiitleniiig Pi;i;s on Coal. Cunningham, in his " Two Years 
in New South Wales," relates, " I had often heard it said 
among sailors that pigs would fatten on coals, and although 
I had observed them very IbnH of munching up tiie coals and 
cinders that came in their way, still I conceived they might 
relish them more as a condiment or medicine than as f()od, 
till I was assured by a worthy friend of mine, long in com- 
mand of a ship, that he once knew of a pig being lost for 
several weeks in a vessel he commanded, and it was at last 
found to have tiunbled into the coal-hole, and there lived all 
that period without a single morsel of any thing to feed upon 
but coals : on being drngged out, it was found as plump and 
fat as if it had been feasting on the most nutritious food. 
Another friend told me of a similar case, which came under 
his observation; and although these may be solitary instan- 
ces, yet they serve at least to show the wonderful facility 
which the stomachs of certain animals possess of adapting 
their digestive powers to such an extraordinary species of 
food, and extracting wholesome nourishment therefrom 
Wiien we consider coal, however, to be a vegetable produc- 
tion, containing the constituent principles of fat, carbon, 
hydrogen, and oxygen, our surprise will decrease." 

An Ohio farmer also, in a southern paper, recommends 
coals as useful in fattening hogs. After giving his hogs a 
small quantity daily, say two pieces to each, about the size 
of a hen's egg, tliey discontinued rooting, were more quiet, 
and appeared to fatten faster. He omitted the coal a few 
days, and they commenced rooting ; he gave it again, and 
they ceased to root. He supposed that the coal corrects the 
morbid fluid in the stomach, which incites them to root deep 
in search of fresh earth. 

The following mixture for fattening swine has been re- 
commended : 

Wash potatoes clean, boil and mash while hot, mix in at 
the same time oats and pea meal. Put the mixture into a 
large tub, which must stand till it bec(unes sour, but not 
putrid. Keep a quantity of this on hand, always ferujenting, 
and give it to your hogs as often as thf^y will eat. 

Apples have iteen much recommended as food for swine. 
They are good raw, but better if boiled and mixed with 
ineai. A wiiter in a Brattleborougli paper observes, '' I have 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 1G3 

tested by ten years' experience the vahie of apples as food 
for anitiiuls. I keep five or six iiogs in my orchard, upon 
nothing but apples and a little swill ; and have uniformly 
found theui to grow and gain flesh faster than hogs fed upon 
any thing « Ise but grain. On the 1st of November, they 
are very decent pork ; after which I feed them about six 
Wt-eks on grain before I kill them ; and I believe I liave as 
fat hogs and as good pork as my neighbours, who give to 
their hogs doul)le the quantity of grain that 1 do to mine " 

Soirs ({crourius: ihtir Off'spyiuc:'. It is not unfrequeutly the 
case that sows destroy their oflspring. In "The New Eng- 
land P'armer," (Vol. V. p. "214,) is a communication Irom 
the Hon. O. Fiske, in which he observes, " In most cases 
where 1 have inquired into the fact, whether in old or y<Hmg 
breeders, I have ascertained that they hav(> been disturbed 
in some of their essential habits, either having been remov- 
ed from their companions, their range restricted, or from 
being removed from one pen to another. All these changes, 
however, nuiy be efTected v\ ith safety, by allowing them suf- 
ficient time to become accustomed to (hem, four or five 
weeks at least. 1 have known sows do well with a second 
litter after having destroyed a first under one of the above 
ex<itemejits. Hence, it would be unwise to condemn to 
death one which l)id fair otheiwise to be a valuable breeder, 
even for this most unnatural crime." 

Anotlier writer directs to "separate the sow from the rest 
of the swine six or eight weeks before her bringing forth, so 
that she may become accustomed to her pen. Care should 
be taken, however, to have her pen kept dry and well lit- 
tered ; always give them litter enough so as not to be oblig- 
ed to give any for six days before the titne, tor nothing dis- 
turbs a sow more than an abundance of litter, and which in 
my opinion has a great tendency to induce her to destroy 
her young. If the sow is with the other swine till within a 
few days of her bringing forth, and then separated, she 
will not get accustomed to her pen, and being disturbed, she 
will l)e pretty sure to destroy her pigs. 

" Raw salt pork, cut in small pieces, and given, will pre- 
vent them from eating their pigs. I have' seen it given after 
they had ate two or three of their litter, with good success. 
But to prevent any mischief it shoidd be kept by them at 
this time."* A writer for the same paper, (Vol. XI. p. 2D8,) 

» New England Farmer, Vol. XI. p. 297. 



164 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

observes, " I have been careful fir about a week before my 
sows were about to farrow, to give them some butcher's re- 
fuse meat, which does not cost rimch ; if easy to be pro- 
cured give them a plenty, and 1 will venture to say that they 
will not eat their pigs." 

Another, in tiie same volume, p. 305. observes, " When 
the period of yeaning is near, I take ilie sow a|)art and give 
her iVee access to a loavm bedroom of ample dimensions in 
my barn, with n dry plank floor, where the shingled walls 
prevent the entrance of cold, rain, or wind, with just enoujrh 
straw to amuse her ' moments of anxiety,' but not enough to 
allow a single |)ig to cover his head and lose his road to the 
fountain of comfort." A writer with the signature " Berk- 
shire," in the same volume, p. 321, states as his opinion, that, 
the evil is caused by conlining (he sow in a light pen from 
the ground, and the want of a suitable supply of potatoes, 
turnips, ruta baga, &c., in addition to their other food. 
" Whaler,'' in the same paper, p. '338, who has raised fine 
pigs on board of a whale sliip, at sea, without gra.^s or roots, 
believed animal food the s[)eciiic remedy for the unnatural 
inclination of sows to devour their ollspring. And "A 
Subscriber " " is sanguine in the opinion, that if sows are so 
placed as to be able to come to the ground a few days before 
pigging, no disappointment would ever happen in the loss of 
pigs. It is not convenient to let them ramble at large ; a 
temporary pen upon ground is equally good." 

Swine should n )t be kept in close and tilthy pens. Though 
they wallow in mire, their object is coolnes^s, nf>t nasliness, 
and they thrive faster and enjoy better health when allowed 
clean and dry lodgings than when they are not thus accommo- 
dated. The late judge Peters, of Pennsylvania, in an arti- 
cle entitled " Notices for a Young Farmer," &c., observed, 
tliat " there is no greater mistake than that of "•oci^frt';- swine, 
when first penned for fattening. They should, on the con- 
trary, be moderatc-ly and frequently fed, so that they be kept 
full, but do not loathe or reject tiieir food, and in the end 
contract fevers and dangerous maladies, originating in a hot 
and corrupted mass of blood. In airy and roomy, yet mod- 
erately warm pens, paved and boarded, and often cleaned, 
thfy are heahiiy and tluiving. The}' show a disposition to 
be cleanly, however otherwise it is sui)posed, and always 
leave their excreinentitious matter in a part of the pen dis- 
tinct from that in wliich they lie down. No animal will 
thrive unless it be kept clean." 



AND RTIRAL ECONOMIST. 165 

Tlio same writer asserted in substance, that fatting hofrg 
sliosild always be siiijplied with dry, rotten wood, which 
should he kept in their pens, I'tr the animals to eat as tlieir 
appetites or inslincts may direct. It has been supposed, 
likewise, that swine thrive the better when they can obtain 
fresh earth, which they are often observed to swallow with 
greediness. 

It is an oliject of much consequence to obtain the best 
breed of swine, not only as rejrards the saving of food, but 
producing the best qualities of flesh. The Hon. Oliver Fiske, 
of VV^orcester, as before observed, has rendered great ser- 
vice to the community, by introducing to the notice of f"ar- 
iTiers in this country a variety of this animal called the 
Bedford Brf.ed. This breed has been highly recommend- 
ed by many who have ascertained their merits by trial. His 
excellency Levi Lincoln, late governor of Massachusetts, 
and president of the Worcester Agricultural .Society, has 
given his opinion of this variety, in a letter, from which the 
following are extracts : 

" I have great pleasure in voluntarily offering myself as 
your compurgator in the representations with which you 
have recently favored the j)ublic, of the Bedford breed of 
swine. The care and perseverance which have marked your 
attention to the prospects and value of these animals, and 
the success wiiich has followed your exertions to introduce 
them to the favor of proclical farmers, require, at least, an 
acknowledgment of obligation from all those who have been 
particularly benefited by your liberality, and from no one 
more than from myself. This breed of swine has taken the 
place of a long-legged, long-nosed, flat-sided, thriftless lace, 
called by some the Inah breed, by others tlie Russian, whicii 
would barely pay by their weight f tr ordinary keepins;, and 
never for one half the expense of fattening, if, indeed grain 
would make them fat. 

" I had three pigs butchered from the same litter, precise- 
ly seven and a half months old. Their weights, when 
dressed, were two hundred and thirty, two hundred and thir- 
ty-five, and two hundred and thirty-eight and a half pounds. 
One siild in Boston liir six and ope-fourth cents per poinid ; 
the others were put up here for family use. The expense 
of keeping and fattening these pigs, I am satisfied, was less 
than with any other breed I ever raised, and the proi)o;tion 
of bone and offal to the valuable parts was surprisingly 
small. I have fifteen more on my farm, part designed for 



166 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

the market in the spring, and part to be kept over as store 
swine, and their appearance will furnish ocuhir satisfaction 
of the propriety of all which has been said in favor of the 
breed." 

This breed of swine was brought to this country as a 
present to General Washington, from the Duke of Bedford, 
who conimitted them to the care of an English farmer by 
the name of Parkinson. This man took a farm in tiie neigh- 
bourhood of Baltimore ; but instead of sending the swine to 
General Washington, Parkinson sold them. 

Captain John Mackay, of Boston, has exhibited at Brigh- 
ton a peculiar and excellent breed of swine, which have re- 
peatedly received premiums from the Massachusetts Agri- 
cultural Society. 



MANURES. No soil will always prove productive with- 
out manure. Though naturally fertile, if some equivalent 
for its produce is not returned to it ; if it is always yielding 
and never receiving, it must, at length, become barren. 

Particular spots, like Egypt, and other alluvial or interval 
lands, which are annually overflowed, derive manure from 
the botjotiful hand of nature, and cannot be rendered barr«'n 
by bad husbandry or contiimal cropping. Some soils, like- 
wise, are not easily exhausted, and are easily recruited, in 
consequence of being composed of materials which attract 
and retain the food of plants from air and water, as well as 
afford a proper medium to prepare and communicate the 
principle of fertility. 

Every species of matter capable of promoting the growth 
of vegetables may be considered as manure. Vegetables are 
composed of certain substances, called by chemists oxygen 
[formerly called vital air], hydrogen [inflammable air], car- 
bon [coaly matter], and nitrogen, or azote, one of the con- 
stituent parts of the atmos|ihere. The suh-stances employed 
as manure should be composed of all or some of these ele- 
ments. 

Vegetable and animal substances, deposited in the soil, 
are consumed during the process of vegetation ; being 
mostly ai)sorbed by the roots of plants, combined with wa- 
ter. These substances compose what is called the fxd of 
plants. 'J'his food is mostly taken in l)y the roots, which are 
analogous to the mouths of animals, but some portion of the 
nourishment of vegetables is also derived from the atmos-' 



AND RURAL ECONO,MIST. 1S7 

phcie, imbibed by flin leaves and bark. Thus the carcas- 
ses of lambs and otlier small animals are sometimes hung on 
the limbs ol' (init-trees to promote their growth, and cause 
them to bear abundantly, and thus produce some eftt'ct ; but 
tlie practice is slovenly and wasteful, as the air is contamin- 
ated, and the carcass buried near the roots would be much 
more efficient as manure. 

A controversy has existed relative to the degree of fer- 
mentation which manure should undergo before it is applied 
to the soil. Some agriculturists contcuid that long, fresh, or 
unfernjented manure is to be prelerred. Others assert, that 
stable and barn-yard manure never should be spread in the 
field till tile fibrous texture of the vegetable matter is entire- 
ly broken down, and it becomes perlectly cold, and so soft 
as to be easily cut with a spade. 

Sir Humphrey Davy observes, " If the pure dung of cat- 
tle is to be used as manure, there seems no reason why it 
should be made to i'erment, except in the soil ; or if suffered 
to ferment it should be only in a very slight degree. The 
grass in the neighbourhood of recently voided dung is always 
coarse and dark green ; s')me persons have attributed this 
to a noxious quality in unfermented dung ; but it seems to 
be rather the result of an excess of load furnished to the 
plants. 

" During the violent fermentation which is necessary for 
reducing farm-yard manure to the state of what is called 
short muck, not only a large quantity of fluid, but likewise 
of gaseous matter, is lost ; so much s> that the dung is re- 
duced one-half or two-thirds in weight ; and the principal 
elastic matter disengaged, in carbonic acid, and some am- 
monia ; and both of these, if retained by the moisture of the 
soil, are capable of becoming useful nourishment of plants. 

"It is usual to carry straw that can be employed for no 
other purpose to the dunghill, to ferment and decompose; 
but it is worth an experiment, whether it may not be more 
econontically applied when chopped small by a proper ma- 
chine, and kept dry till it is ploughed in for the use of the 
crop. In this case, though it would decompose much more 
slowly and produce less effect at first, yet its influence would 
be more lasting." 

Robert Snnth, Esq , president of the Maryland Agricul- 
tural Society, in an address to that society observed, " With 
respect to stable-dung, I shall for th.e present content my- 
self by barely suggesting, that my experience strongly in- 



16# THE COMPLETE FARMER 

clines me to the opinion that, however long, it ou^rht to be 
ploughed into the ground without any previous stirring, and 
as soon as practicable after it has been taken tVoin the iurni- 
yard." 

We believe that the question relative to long and to short 
manure must depend on circumstances. In certain soils, and 
for certain crops, long manure which has undergone hut a 
slight fermentation is to be preferred. But if used for wheat, 
and other kinds of grain, and in all crops which cannot con- 
veniently be hoed or weeded, or, probably, when applied to 
soils containing acids or some substances which may prevent 
fermentation and retard the progress of putrescence and dis- 
solution, it must be well rotted. 

Rotting manure, however, in a barn-yard, or in any situa- 
tion in wliich its volatile and liquid products escape into the 
atmosphere, or soak into soil not designed to support vege- 
tation, is very slovenly and wasteful, and always to be avoid- 
ed if possible. The etlluvia or gas which is suflercd to es- 
Cci|)e from fermenting manure is not only almost altogether 
lost to useful vegetation, but, what is still worse, fills the at- 
nios|)here with particles injurious to health, and often de- 
structive to life. 1 he evaporations from a manure yard 
rob the farmer of a part of his substance, starve his crops, 
and it is well if they do not, moreover, poison him and his 
family by their contaminating influence. Some farmers' 
barn-yards, h<>g-|)ens, and other receptacles of manure, are 
very offensive, and if they do not generate typhus fever, in 
its worst form, which we fear is frequently the case, they at 
least (;ause a degree of languor and debility, which embit- 
ters existence, and in a great measure disqualifies for any 
useful purposes of life. It is a fact that those exhalations so 
injurious to animal life are the essence of vegetable life, and 
the volatile substances which offend our senses and injure 
our health, if arrested in their transit by the hand of skil- 
ful industry, may be so modified in the great laboratory of 
nature as to greet us in the fragrance of a flower, regale 
us in the plum or nectarine, or furnish the stamina of life 
in substantial viands from the field and the stall of the cul- 
tivator. 

If we are correct in the foregoing, an important axiom 
may be adduced, viz.: J^'o pulnfactive process on<j:;lil lo be 
suffered to proceed on afarmcr^s premises, wilhoul his adopt' 
ing' some mode lo save, as fur as possible, the gaseous products 
of suck putrescence. These gaseous products constitute im- 



AND nuilAL ECONOMIST. 169 

portant elements of vegetable food, and a farmer may as 
well suffer liis cattle to stray from his stall, or his swine 
from hid sty, without a possibility of reclaiming them, as 
permit the principles of fertility expelled by fermentation or 
putrefaction to escape into the atmosphere for the purposo 
of poisoning the air, instead of feeding the plants. It ia 
very easy to arrest these particles, A quantity of earth 
thrown over the matter in which the fermentation is going 
on will check its violence and arrest its gaseous products, 
which will be imbibed by the soil, and afterwards yielded to 
plants in such proportion as the wants of vegetation may 
require. 

"Fermentation, that destroyer of all organic conforma- 
tion, is not to be feared by the farmer, if it be conducted 
and carried on in the presence of earth, which fives and 
secures the gases as fast as they are liberated. Even the 
degree of the process is a mdtter of less consequence ; be- 
cause if the elementary principles are in keeping, and re- 
served for future usefuluess, it is immaterial whether this 
has happened by a new absorption, or by still holding their 
original and unchanged form. In his composite hill [com- 
post heap], tlie whole animal or vegetable structure may l)e 
dissolved, and leave behind no trace of existence, without 
the least waste of the principles of fertility ; because the 
ingredients superadded to tlie dung have become surcharged 
with them, or, to speak philosophically, fully saturated. W© 
may go farther, and state that complete decomposition is 
desirable in this case, which is so much to be avoided in the 
farm-yard ; because putrescent matter can only become 
vegetable food by its resolution into primary parts, and if 
this be effected by any preparatory step, the young crop 
receivFs the full and instantaneous benefit. The com])ost 
manure is carried to the field ready to give out its richness 
on the very first call, and to supply the nascent radicle 
[young root] with a copious share of nourishment. 

"The putrefactive process may be carried on in the pres- 
ence of pure earth only, or of earth intermingled with 
fibrous roots, or lastly in the presence of peat, which is at\ 
assemblage of inert vegetal)le mitter, and compost dunghills 
may be formed according to this threefold method. 

" The simplest of all comi)osts is a mixture of barn-yard 

dung and surface mould taken from a field under regular 

culture. The proportions between the ingredients are fixed 

by no detcrujinate laws, and consequently great liberty ia 

15 



170 THE COMPLETE FAHMER 

alHwable In tlio operator. I have kinwh some instances 
where t-vo oart-l >ud» ol dimg were used tor one ot earth j 
others, when; they were hiended in equal q\iantilies; and it 
id not un.'ieqnent to compound twa (jt" earth witli one of dung. 
In tact, such is tlie uncertainty in the composition, that al- 
most every t'urmer adopts one peculiar to himstlt, and with 
equal success. No man need lijerel'ore I'dlow imjilicitly tlie 
rules whicli have heen laid down in this departn)enl of rural 
economy, hut may vary and nmltiply his experiments, ac- 
cording to ti»e suggestions of lancy or the dictates of con- 
venience. If we slightly glance at the principle, we siiall 
see the cause of this seemingly endless variety in the com- 
binations of the ingredients. The only use of intermixing 
the soil with the dung is to iinbihe the gaseous elements of 
vegetable lii'e, and hinder their dissij)atiou. If there he much 
soil, these elements will be ditiused through it with less den- 
sity and cr)mi)re>sioa; if little, it wiil be more abundantly 
saturated and enriL-.hed with the nutritive vapors. The only 
error into wliich the larmer can run is, to sup|)ly such an in- 
considerabli! quantity of soil as will be incapable of im- 
bibing the elastic and volatile particles, and thus by his own 
inismanaiiement occasion a waste of the vegetable aliment. 
One cart-load of soil to two of stable-dung is tlie least pro- 
portion which he should ever attempt to combine, and per- 
haps if the two were mixed equally, he would, be compensa- 
ted tor the additi )ual lal)or and expense. 

"Simple earth, altiiougii excellent for bottoming and 
strewing over the pit dug near the barn, is of all materials 
tlie m >st unproiitable in compost dunghills. A matted sward, 
thi'-klv entangled with roots, or mud dri-.ggcd from the bot- 
tom of bogs or ditches, and replete with acpKitic plants, are 
clearly preferable on this account, tliat, besides bringing 
earth to the composition, they snpj)ly a large proj)orli »n of 
vegetable matter. VVhenever the s lil must be carted to the 
heap, it is better to lay out the expetise in transporting these 
enriching materials ; because they will not only equally ab- 
sorb anfl retain the evaporating gases, but greatly augment 
the quantity of manure. "* 

'J'he path proper tor a farmer to ptirsue in order to make 
the most of his manure, and preserve his own health and 
that of his family, is a^ plain as a turnpike. VVhenever pu- 
trid ferinentaticm is going on in any part of bis premises, and 

* Letters of Agricola, liy Joliii Youn^, Escj. 



ANU RURAL ECONOMIST. 171 

coiisiiming his sii!)s(aife by a slow but w.isteful ctmbustion, 
let hill ii,)j)ly earth, |)c;it, or some other earthy substance in 
qiiaatitie.s sulHcieat to atliact, imbibe, and retain all the 
elHuvia. Heahli, profit, and eieanhness, equally require 
s\ich a proceediiii^. We shall say a word or two on the lat- 
ter t.)|)ic. It" a man were to swallow daily a quantity of 
filthy matter, or to eat his lood iinpicjinated with vapors t'rorw 
a manure heaj), or from sume other putrefying and olfensive 
sul)stancc, wiien he might by a liith; exertion avoid suchi 
nauseous viands., and suOstitute something nourishing, jialat- 
able, pure, and wholesome, we should esteem him no better 
than a Hot.'entot. But a man may almost as well take filtil 
into his stomaeh as HKhy etlluvia into his lungs; he may 
a'ootit as well dine with a crow or a buzzard as sup with a 
toad " on the vapor of a dunghill." 

The farmer wiio arrests the rank vapors which emanate 
from decaying animal and vegetable matter, and instead of 
permitting them to pass into and contaminate the air he 
breathes, treasures up the invisible particles witli which they 
are laden, and applies them t j leed useful vegetables, causes 
the atmosphere to be healthy, and his plants to be thritiy by 
the same means. 

'i'he celebrated lord Erskine, in a speech delivered at one 
of the annual sheep-shearings at H<ilkham, in England, 
made tiie tidlowing remarks on this su!)ject : 

" If we consider llie sui)ject of manure, we shall perceive 
one ot" the most striking beauties and benefits of divine or- 
dination, aufl of that wisd mi with which we are blessed a 
th'nisaud ways without kn iwijitr it. 'I'his very substance, 
had it been u-eless, must have axujmulated in heaps, int ler- 
ably nois >u»e and perpetually |)estilential; but by the bless- 
inir of Providence, it is every man's interest to remove these 
otherwise increasing mountains of lilih, and by decotnposi- 
tion, in various ways, in a great measure concealed from us, 
it gives increase to our fields, ami adds to our u»eans of 
hjdustry, and the reward of the hu<bandinan." 

Those who cultivate the ground tlo ni>t always act the 
provident part suppo.sed by lord Erskine, in the sentence 
above quoted. On the contrary, l"arn>ers loo often suffer 
maiure to accumulate and waste in heaps, generatinjj; 
effluvia " int )leiaidy n )isomo and perpetually pestilentud," 
without fear of fever or famine, b ith of which are courted 
by such conduct. N >t only dung is too often all iwed to 
waste its richness on the tainted air, but straw aiul other lit- 



Its THE COMPLETE FARMER 

ter is suffered to grow mouldy and consume by what is 
sometimes called tlie dry rot, hoth ot' which migiit be pre- 
vented, or their had effects obviated, by covering or mixing 
them with a suitable quantity of earth. Besides, dead ani- 
mals, contents ot" privies, the emptyings of sinks, spoiled 
provisions, the refuse of the dairy, the pantry, and the cellar, 
are allowed to mingle their odours in nauseating and dele- 
terious profusion. Sometimes the highway is rendered al- 
most impassable, in consequence of a dead horse, sheep, 
dog, or cat, undergoing the process of decomposition in a 
situation correctly cakulated to annoy travellers. Some 
farmers hang dead lambs, cats, dogs, kc, in ihe forks of 
apple-trees, or throw tiiem on hovels or stumps, at some 
elevation Irom the ground, to give the pestilential emanations 
a chance to ditfuse themselves, without coming in contact 
with the earth, whitdi might convert them from poison to 
men and animals into food for plants. If, however, such 
aninial remains are deposited in a barn-yard or manure heap, 
they are too often suHered to lie and rot on the surface, 
offending the senses, and injuring the health of a whole vil- 
lage. Practices of this kind are well reproved by Sir 
Humphrey Davy, who says, " Horses, dogs, sheep, deer, 
and other quadrupeds that have died accidentidly or of dis- 
eases, after their skins are separated, are often suffered to 
remain, exposed to tlie air, or inuiiersed in water, till they 
are destroyed by birds or beasts of prey, or entirely de- 
composed; and in this case most of their organizable mat- 
ter is lost from the land on which they lie, and a consider- 
able portion of it eujployed in giving out noxious gases to 
the atmosphere. 

" By covering dead animals with five or six times their 
bulk of soil, mixed with one part of lime, and suffering them 
to remain for a lew months, their decomposition would im- 
pregnate the soil with soluble matters, so as to render if an 
excellent manure ; and by mixing a little fiesh quicklime 
with it, at the time of its removal, the disagreeable effluvia 
will be in a great measure destroyed, and it might be em- 
ployed in the same way as any other manure to crops."* 

It', however, quicklime caiuiot readily be obtained to ac- 
celerate the conversion of dead animals into manure, it is 
probable that covering the carcasses with a pretty thick coat 



* A;{ricultural Ciiemistrv. 



AND UUUAL ECONOMIST. 173 

ofunlcached ashes, and |)laciii<i; over all a quantity of eaitli, 
or eailliy ^ui)stiuici;, \v.)nl<J liasten dcconipositiini, and secure 
tlie gu-es resniti ig I'roin piitresceiioe. Kurlli al tne will 
answer a valnal)le |)urpose, and, in lime, tl»e largest animal 
will be dec(inij)i)sed in nothing hnt cmnnion s )il. 

Not only the carcasse.s ot' animals, hut their excrements 
and urine are rendered of little value hy I >ng exposure to the 
air. Indeed, every niomenl ol" such e.\j)osure robs them of 
a part ol" their lertilily, as well as contaminates the atm)s- 
phere. " He wh(» is within the sphere of the scent of a 
diiniihill, (says the celehrated Arthur YoUiig,) smells that 
whicli his crop would have eaten, it' he would have permitteii 
it. Instead ttl' manuring the land, he manures the atmos- 
phere ; and before his dunghill is tinished, he has manured 
another parish, perha|)s an >tl»er county." As few exhala- 
tions as possible ought to be sutiered to rise from the excre- 
ments of animals. Fresh tnanure ougiit to he kept as care- 
fully trom the sun and rain as grass wliicli has been cut for 
liay. When cattle have been yarded over night, it would 
be well to throw their droppings into sniall heaps or beds, 
and cover them at least with a sufficient quantity of earth to 
prevent fermentation, or absorb its products. 'I'his would 
cost hut little laboi, and would much enhance the value of 
the manure. 

It has been, and we beJHJve in some instances still is, in 
vogue among lU' tners, to turn over and mix barn-yard ma- 
nure several times before it is carried lo the Held. 'I'his 
practice, however, is exploded among the i)est intormed cul- 
tivators. Mr. A. Young says "no turning, but if circum- 
stances of tiie richness, quantity, or weather have occasion- 
ed too UMich I'ermentation, or this is suspected, scatter every 
now and (lien a quantity of the same earth over the suria«"e, 
with which the yard was bedded. This may be so propor- 
tioned as to keep the mass from too much fermentati"i» " 

It is remarked bv the author of " Letters of Agricola," (hat 
" Earth is a powerful absorber of all the gases which arise 
from putrefaction. 'J'he earth possesses not only the prop- 
erty of retaining the putrid steams which are formed from 
the dung of decomposing bodies witiiin itself, but also <tf 
attracting the efllifvia wheti floating in the air. The salu- 
brity of a country depends on this latter quality ; as the 
practice of burying the dung io the earth is tounded on the 
liumer. 'I'he st<;nch proceeding fiom the diss lulion of 
organized matter never rises through the ground to assail 
15* 



n4 THE COMPLETE FARMEU 

the nostiils, althnuah it is sufficiently ofien^ive from bodic3 
corrupting in air or water. A strongly dunged field, after 
being plouglied, sown, and harrowed, sends tortli a health- 
ful and relreshing smell; a proof that all the putrid vapors, 
which otherwise would annoy us, are absorbed and retained 
fin tile nutrition of the crop. It is on tliis account that the 
poorest earth can be enriched in a very high degree by mere 
exposure to the gases of putrefaction. Put a layer of coiii- 
rnon soil along the top of a fermenting dunghill, from twelve 
to eighteen inches thick, and allow it to remain there while 
tlie process is carrying on wiih activity, and afterwards 
separate it carefully from the heap, and it will have been 
impregnated with the most fertilizing virtues. The com- 
posts, which of late have attracted such universal attention, 
and occupied so large a place in all agricultural publications, 
originated in the discovery of this absorbing power of the 
earth, and in the applittation of it to the most benelicial of 
purposes. A skiliul .rgriculturist would no more tliiiik of 
allowing a violent fermentation to be going on in his dung- 
hill, unmixed with earth or other matter to iix and secure 
the gaseous elements, tiian the distiller would suifer his ap- 
paratus to be set at work without surmounting his still with 
the worm to cool and condense the rarefied spirit which 
ascends to evaporation. In boti) the most precious matter 
is that which assumes the aerilorm state; and to behold it 
escaping, with unconcerned indid'erence, is a demonstration 
of the most profound ignorance." 

Ijiquid JMinntrc. Water in its purest state, when it has 
been distilled or filtered through sand, still retains s.>mewhat 
of the food of plants. Its component paits, oxygen and 
hydrogen, under certain circumstances, are seized by vegeta- 
bles while in their growing state, and converted into the pro- 
ducts which form the constituents of all vegetables. But 
pure water forms a meagre diet f(jr plants. It may support 
life in vegetables, and some plants will maintain a leeble 
growth with very little nourishment except what is affoidcd 
them by pure water and air. But when water is impregnat- 
ed with certain salts and gases, particularly such as are 
evolved during the fermentation and decomposition of vege- 
table and animal substances, it becomes what is called liijuid 
muiiwe. Urine, or the stale of alt animals, is water holding 
in snlution certain salts and otlier substances, which are 
the essence of manure, or the food of plants in a concentrated 
state. 



AND RMIAL ECONOMIST. 175 

Fresh urine is a very p )".vorrnl and efTicacinus manure, 
when |)r<»|ierly applied, hut if not mixed with sohd matter it 
should he dduted with water, as when pure it contains too 
huge a quantity of animal matter to form a proper fluid 
nourisiunent for ahsorption hy the ro>ts of plants. Urine is 
lessened in value, hut its useful qualities are not entirely 
lost, \>y putrescence. During putrefaction the greatest part 
ol" the s iliilile animni matter that urine contains is destroy- 
ed , it should tln'refore he used as iresh as possihle, with the 
prc;.auti )n of diluting it with water, or mixing it with earth. 
I'utrid urine, however, is a valuahle uuinure. It ahnunds in 
annnoniacal salts; and though less active than fresh urine, 
is very etlicacious.* 

According to some writers and practical farmers, the 
value of the urine of cattle, if properly preserved and applied 
to the purposes of vegetation, is greater than that of all the 
dung which the same animals would yield ! A letter from 
Charles Alexander, near Peehles, in Scotland, addressed to 
Sir. John Sinclair, in lUI'i, cotjtains much valuahle informa- 
tion on this suhject. " This intelligent farnier had long been 
impressed with the great importance; of the urine of cattle 
as a manure, and he set about to discover, hy a long and 
well-conducted series of experiments, the best method of 
collecting and appl}ing it. He began by digging a pit 
contiguous to the feeding-stall, but distinct alto>>elher from 
that which was appropiiated for the reception of the dung. 
The dimensifuis of this pit, were thirty-six feet square and 
four ii^et deep, surrounded on all sides by a wall ; and the 
solid contents were one hundred and ninety-two yards. 
Having selected the nearest spot where he could find I amy 
earth, and this he always took from the surface of some field 
under cultivation, he proceeded to fill it; and found that, 
with three men and two horses, he could easily accomplish 
twenty-eight cubic yards per day; and the whole expense of 
transporting the earth did not exceed twenty-two dollars. 
When the work was coinjilete, he levelled the surface of the 
hea|) in a lini; with the sewer which conducted the urine from 
the i'lterior of the buihling, on purpose that it might be 
dist'ibuted with regularity, and might saturate the wlxde 
from top to bottom. The quantity conveyed to it he esti- 
mates at about eight hundred callons. The urine was sup- 
plied by fourteen cattle, kept there for five months on fodder 

* See Davy's AgiUuluiial Clieiiii^try. 



176 THE COMI'LETE FARMER 

ar.d turnips. Tlio contents of tlie pit produced two liuiidrcd 
and eigiity-eight load-s, alliiwing two cuUic yards to be taken 
out ill tliree carts; and he spread forty of these on each 
acre, so tliat this urine in five months, |)roduced a compost 
sufficient lor the fertili^ation of seven acres of land. He 
states lartlier, tliat he liad tried this experiment for ten 
years, and had indisciiminalely used in the same lii Id either 
the rotted cow-dung or the saturated earth; and in all stages 
of the crop, he had never hetni aide to find any perceptible 
difiercnce. But what is still more wonderiul, he found his 
comi)ost lasted in its effects as many years as his best 
putrescent manure; and he therefore boldly avers, that a 
load of each is of equivalent value. 

" It appears, then, that in live months each cow dis- 
charges urine which, when absorbed by loam, furnishes 
manure of the richest quality and most durable effects f n* 
half an acre of ground. Tiie dung-pit, which contained alt 
the excrementitious nuittcr of the lourteen cattle, as well as 
the litter employed in bedding them, and which was kept 
sepaiate for the purpose of the experiment, only furnished, 
during the same pericjd, two hundred and forty l;)ads, and 
these, at the same rate, could oidy manure, six acres. The 
agoregate value of tiie urine, tiierefore, when compared 
with that of the dung, wai in the ratio of seven to six."* 

We apprehend that the larmers of the United States are 
not, generally speaking, careful to turn the urine of their 
cattle to account for manure. J'here aie some cultivators, 
however, who have taken measures to secure this substance, 
and to ap|ily it to usel'ul purposes. Mr. Robert Smith, of 
Baltimore, has his >tables constructed in such a manner that 
all the liquid dischaiges of his cattle are conducted, togeth- 
er wiih the wash of the liarn-yard, into a cistern, pumped 
into a hogshead, and applied in a liquid state to the soil 
which it is wished to manure.! 'J his m de of making use 
of this substance is likewise recommended in the " Code of 
Agriculture," as follows: "The advantages of irrigating grass 
lands witli cow urine almost exceed belief Mr. Harley, of 
Glasgow, (who keeps a large dairy in that town,) by using 
cow urine, cuts some small fields of grass six times, and the 
average of each cutting is fifteen inches in length. There 
are disadvantages, however, attending this mode of applying 
this pnwerfiil manure. It mu.-t be applied soon after it is 

* Letters of Agricoiii. t See New Eiigl.mJ rainier. Vol. 1. No. 6. p. 41 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST, 177 

formed, or ortontinies the putrefactive process will com- 
nu-nce, and deprive it of a part of its efficacy. And as 
urine is of a scorching quahty, it is unsafe to apply it to 
growing crops in great heat or drought. Hence it is un- 
udvisable to use it, except for grass, after the month of April 
or May, utdess diluted. It is particularly useful iu the 
spring, when the application of liquid manure gives a new 
impetus to liie plant, and makes its growth more vigorous. 
This manure forces newly planted cabbages in a most 
remarkable manner." 

If it he true that more manure can be obtained from the 
stale of cattle tiian from their dung and litter, in the propor- 
tion of seven to si.\, (as would seem by Mr. Alexandei 's ex- 
periments as above detailed,) and that by our common modes 
of husbandry this stale is nearly or quite squandered away, 
the discovery is of very great importance indeed to agricul- 
ture. It is nothing less than a method by which farmers 
may, witii a small expense, somewhat more than double their 
usual quantity of stable manure. And if farmers should 
" value manure as a miser does his strong box, should grasp 
after and hoard it as eagerly and anxiously as a covetous 
man accunmlates treasure,"* surely the wise cultivator will 
n()t grudge some labor and ex[)ense to acquire more than 
double the usual quantity of so valuable an article. It is 
very true there are many things to be taken into considera- 
tion in all these ec<momical processes.. A principal inquiry 
should ever be, whether the saving will cost more than the 
benefit arising from it will lie worth. Many improvements 
which are hi;:hly valuable in <dd and populous countries, 
where labor is cheap and lan<l dear, cannot be advantage- 
ously adopted in this country, where the object, in general, is 
rather to make the most of our labor than of our land. It 
is to be recollected, likewise, that in New England, during 
a cr)nsideral)le part of the time in which cattle are usually 
hocjsed, the liquid manure is soon converted into ice, and in 
that state nnist be transferred to the dung-heap, or inconve- 
nient accunmlations will take place before a thaw would 
render it practicable to separate the liquid Irom the solid 
parts of the manure. Still, with all these disadvantages, we 
believe, in most cases, it is highly advisal)le to jjreserve the 
liquid portion of stable manure separate from the solid part; 

* Tlipae oxpre.osioiis, uc lielipvp, hclcmg; (o the Unn. Mr. Peters, of renn- 
et Ivaiiiu, but uu do iiul I'ecullect wUeie \\c luuiiJ llieiii. 



173 THE COMl'LETE FAUMER 

cspcrlally wliorc cattle aro soilod or horses stabled dming 
all or tin.' greater part ot" the v( ar. 

Jointure Joy Grass Gixnimts, Tcp-drcusirifrs, S^'c An in- 
telliyeiit and scieiitihc cultivator has given the followhig 
diLtciions on this subject. 

. 1 here is ticaiccly any question on which farmers are 
more divided than as to the policy of applying manure as a 
top-dressing to grass lands, in the Sjjring or lall. 'Jhe rea- 
soning seems to be in favor of spring dressing, and it is sup- 
ported by many excellent names. But it ought to be known, 
that int«!iligent tarmers near the metropolis most generally 
dress their lauds in aulunm. Resides the reason stated 
above, tliat glass lands are less injured by carting over tliern 
in the fall, it may be added, that it is a season of greater 
leisure ; and although it is contidently asserted, that the 
niaimre is wasted by rains and sno rr^ yet much ought to be 
allowed on the other side for the protection afforded by the 
top-dressing to the tender roots i)f the plaiils duiiug Avintt r; 
and ought we not to add something for the low tempeiatnre 
of the atmosphere in winter, which prevents evaporation ? 
Whatever principles of fertility exist in maiuue, aie in win- 
ter carrii'd down into the soil. We are fully cinvinced that 
a scorching sun and drying air are more pernicious to ma- 
nures spread thinly over the suriaie than any drenching 
rains can be, unless on declivities, where top-dies>ings are 
uu(|uestionabiy of less value than on level grounds. The fact 
that IJiruiers who grow rich by supplying the great towns 
witli hay generally adopt the practice of fall-diessing their 
gra.^s lands, deserves weight. 

'I'op-dressing should nut be used in the fall for winter 
grain, because they would be apt to maki^ the young plants 
come forward ton fast and grow so rank that they would be 
liable to be winter-killed. Top-dressing for wheat, rye. Sic. 
should be applied to the growing crop in the spring or early 
in the sunnner, when it is suspected that the land is not rich 
enough to bring a lull crop to perfecticui. 

With regard to the nniterials for dressing your grass 
grounds, alter your garden is supplied with manure, you may 
as well cart ()u to your mowing land all that you can collect 
from your barn-yards, your stercoraries or dueg-heaps, hog- 
pens, compost beds, night soil, Sec. All sorts of dung, how- 
ever, before being applied to grass land, should lie well 
nii.ved with loam, sand. <u' some kind of earth which will 
inibibe the gas or eliluvia of the dung or putrescent manure 



AND nilRAI, ECONOMIST, 179 

We liavo said Iiofiro, in siiltstiinco, that all kinds of piifros- 
Cf'iit manure (tliat is, tliose animal cr v('<refal)ie siibslatxres 
wliicli lire liaMe to piitrelV, m;)iild, and be wastod wlien ex- 
posed t > the snn and air) are in a great me.isiire tiimwri 
away, il" a|)|)lied to the snrlace of the soil before Ix-ing made 
into oonijiost. * " Spreading |)iitrescent substances upon tlic 
surface of .n field of grass ground, is to manure, not tin- soil, 
but tlie atmosphere ; and is justly condemned as the inost 
i.'iiudii-ious plan that can be devised, in art arable district."'}" 
If dung not madi' into com|)0't nor mixed with earth or any 
SM!>stiui r:e which will attract and imbibt! its gas, etiluvia, vo- 
latile products, or (to be more plain) tliat wliich causes it to 
snicll unpleasantly, i)e ap|)liod to a fuld of plough land, it 
ought to be spread evenly and pi )Ughed, or at least harrowed 
in immediately. If a larmer's cliief dependence is in graz- 
ing land, and he has dung, or putrescent manure not made 
into compost, to ajjplv, we would suggest it lor his consider- 
ation whether it mi^ht not be well, lirst to spread !iis dimg 
as evenly as [)ossible over his field, and then spread over the 
whole at least an equal quantity of good earth or loam. By 
such means a compost is made in the lield after the putres- 
cent manure is ai)plied, and tlie earth or loam spread over 
tl)e dung will not only absorb its gaseous products, but in a 
great measure protect il from being dried by the air <ir 
scorched by the sun, till its fertilizing qualities are dissipated. 
This method of managing with to|)-dressing fur grass land, 
however, we should suggest merely as an expedient for the 
saving of labor in cases where farmers have unich dung, but 
little |)lough land in proportion, and with whom the saving 
of labor is a very great object. As a general rule, the fol- 
lowing maxim of Sir John Sinclair will apply as well in tiiis 
country as in Great Britain. " There are strong ol)jecfions 
to the application of dunw to grass lands ; (niucii of its 
strength l)eing evaporated, from its being exposed to atmos- 
pheric influence ; ) cnwposis art grialhj to be preferred. They 
may be applied at the rate of from tliirty to forty cubic yards 
per acre. To keep grass land in good condition, a dressing 
to this amount is required every f )ur yenrs. The applica- 
tion of unmixed putrescent manure will thus be rendered 
unnecessary." 

The mode in which some farmers mana.ie with regard to 
manuring their grass lands is not only absurd, but ruinnus. 
Karly in the fall they cart their dung from their barn-yards 

♦ New England Farmer, Vol. I p. 321. t Code of Aaiiculture. 



ISd THE COMPLETE FARMER 

and sties, which perhaps had l)ppn a year or more accumu- 
lating, and of course is finely pulverized and ready to lake 
the wings of every breeze. They place it on a tough sward 
in little heaps about the size of a two bushel basket. 'Jhe 
sun, high winds, rain, and drying atmosphere, all conspire 
to rob these little heaps of nearly all their fertilizing quali- 
ties, and leave little but a dead mass of matter as "dry as a 
husk." Late in the spring, and generally during or just be- 
fore a dry time, Mr. Cultivator spreads these little heaps 
(reduced by exposure to wind and weather to about the size 
of a half bushel measure) over the sward. If the season 
proves dry, the manure, particularly that part which was 
collected from the stye, has scarcely any other effect than to 
assist the sun in scorching the grass. In the mean time the 
arable land, being left destitute of manure for the sake of 
duns^irtg the grass ground, yields not half a crop. The poor 
farmer believes his land wcun out, and thinks it high time to 
" pluck up stakes and be ofT to the Ohio ! " 
\ Unless you have plenty of manure, you had better not ap- 
ply any dung to your high, gravelly, or sandy soils, but dresg 
them with plaster of Paris. Uneven grass grounds will not 
admit of top-dressing to any advantage, oh account of the 
manure's being liable to be washed a way. J 

Previous to manuring your grass lands, it will be well to 
harrow or scarify them. "Rolling was formerly considered 
to be indispensal)le in the management of grass lands, tend- 
ing to smooth and consolidate the surface, to prevent the 
formation of ant-hills, and to render the effects of drought 
less [)ernicions. But scarifjjins; the turf with a plough, con- 
sisting only of coulters, or with a harrow so that the whole 
surface may be cut or torn, is to be recommended when the 
pastures [or mowing land] are hidebound. That tenacious 
state, rolling tends to increase ; whereas by scarifying, the 
surface is loosened, and the roots accpiire new means of im- 
proved vegetation. This operation seems particularly use- 
ful when it precedes the manuring of grass lands ; for if 
well scarified, the ground is so opened, that any manure 
spread upon it gets at once to the roots ; consequently a 
small quantity thus applied, goes as far as a larger one laid 
on in the old mode, and without such an operation. Thus 
the force of the objections to the ajiplication of putrescent 
manure to grass lands is in some degree obviated."* After 

* Code of Agriculture. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 181 

such process it may be well to sow grass seeds, to produce a 
new set of plants, and supersede the necessity of breaking 
up the soil to prevent its being " hound out,'^ as the phrase is. 

It is a bad practice to feed your mowing land very closely 
in the fall. There should be enough of the after-grass left 
to protect the roots of the grass against the frosts of winter. 
We have known good farmers who would not suffer their 
mowing land to be pastured at any time of the year. But 
if the soil be well dressed with manure it can do but little or 
any injury to pasture it in the fore part of autumn, taking 
care not to let cattle run upon it when wet, and so soft that 
they would make much impression on it with their feet. 

Manure from Swine. Very valuable manure, with a little 
attention, may be obtained from swine by methods similar to 
that described by a writer for " The New England Farmer," 
(Vol. II. p. 178,) as follows: 

" I usually keep and fatten four hogs in a year. These I 
keep confined in a yard twenty feet square, with a warm and 
convenient shed attached thereto as a shelter for them during 
the night time, and in cold and stormy weather. Into their 
yard I put the scrapings of ditches, the dirt which is con- 
tinually collecting in and about the dwellinghouse and other 
buildings, together with the straw with which they are lit- 
tered, frequently clearing it out of their house and granting 
them a fresh supply. During the summer season I often 
throw in large quantities of weeds, brakes, and other rubbish 
that may come to hand, which helps to increase both the 
quantity and quality of the manure. In this way I make 
from twenty-five to thirty loads of manure in a year, which 
answers a more valuable purpose than that which I take from 
the stable or barn-yard. 

" I planted a field containing two acres with corn. One 
half of the piece was manured in the hill with ten loads from 
the hogpen, the other half with the same quantity of the 
best manure the barn-yard afforded. A visible difference 
was to be seen in the growth of the corn through the sea- 
son, and at the time of harvest the difference was still more 
discernible. That part manured from the hogpen produced 
ears generally much larger than that manured from the barn- 
yard, a great proportion of tlie stalks bearing two, and many 
of them three ears each. Having harvested and measured 
my corn, I feund the result to be as follows : the produce of 
the part manured from the hogpen fifty bushels, while that 
16 



182 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

of the other part was b)it forty-two bushels, making a differ- 
ence of eight bushels in favor of the former. 

Manures may be divided into two classes. The one is 
called animal and vegetable or putrescent manures. They 
consist of decayed and decaying animal and vegetable sub- 
stances. The other class is denominated fossil manures. 
The last mentioned do not properly constitute the food of 
plants, although they enter into the composition of vegeta- 
bles in minute quantities. Fossil manures stimulate plants, 
and cause them to take their food faster than they otherwise 
would. They are like what medical men call condiments, 
and answer the same purpose, as respects the economy of 
vegetables, which salt, pepper, spices, Sic. effect as regards 
the animal economy. 

The principal fossil manures are lime, gypsum, and marl. 
We shall make a few observations on eacli. 

1. Mvanta^es of Lime. Though there are exceptions to 
the rule, yet, in general, it nyay be confidently asserted, that, 
unless where a soil has by nature enough of calcareous 
matter in its composition for the purposes of vegetation, it 
can neither be brought into its most fertile states, nor will 
other manures be so useful as tliey ought, if lime or some 
other calcareous earth be not previously applied. Cylime 
spread upon a moory soil, good herbage is produced where 
nothing but heath and unpalatable grasses grew before. By 
the same means, grass lands, instead of yielding notiiing but 
bent, and otlier inferior grasses, have been covered with those 
of a more valuable description. The utility of lime to tur- 
nips is so great, that, though in the same field, where no 
lime had been applied the crop died away, yet in the limed 
part the turnips flourished with unabated vigor. On the 
Mendip lands in Somerset, by the application of lime, the 
value of-'land was raised from four shillings to thirty shillings 
per acre ; and dung, which previous to liming had no sensi- 
ble efl^ect, operated after its application as on other lands. 
Macclesfield forest in Cheshire, and vast tracts in the north- 
ern and more elevated parts of Derbyshire and adjacent dis- 
tricts, have been astonishingly improved by the same means. 
The rye lands of Herefordshire in 1636 refused to produce 
wheat, peas, or vetches ; but since the introduction of lime, 
they have been so fertilized, as to be successfully applied to 
the growth of every species of corn. In maiden soils of a 
tolerable quality, the richest manure will not enable them to 
bring any crops, but those of oats or rye, to maturity ; 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 183 

whereas, if they receive a sufficient quantity of lime, crops 
of peas, barley, or wheat, may be raised to advantage. The 
benefit rcsuUing from the use of lime has been indisputably 
proved in the same farm ; for the richer parts that were left 
unlimed were uniformly inferior in produce to the poorer that 
had been limed, during a period of not less than twenty-one 
years, under the same course of management. 

'2. The principles on which lime operates as a manure. 
Quicklime in powder, or dissolved in water, is injurious to 
plants ; hence grass watered with lime-water is destroyed. 
But lime freshly burnt, or slacked, forms a compost with 
vegetable matter, which is soluble in water, and nutritive to 
plants. Mild lime (as chalk, or quicklime again impregnat- 
ed with carbonic acid) chiefly operates by improving the 
texture of the soil and its relation to absorption. 

3. 77je various sorts of Limestone. Sometimes limestone 
is almost perfectly pure, as is the case with marble, which 
frequently contains scarcely any other substance but calcare- 
ous matter. Several sorts of limestcme, however, have mix- 
tures of clay and sand, in various proportions, by which the 
efficacy of the manure, in proportion to the quantity of these 
substances, is consideral»ly diminiished. It is necessary, 
therefore, to analyze limestone, to ascertain the proportion 
of [)ure lime, before it is advisable to use so expensive an 
article in gieat quantities, more especially if it must be con- 
veyed from a distance. Rituminous liineslone makes good 
manure. Rut the magnesian is the s[>ecies which requires 
the greatest attention. Limestone sometimes contains frotn 
20.3 to 23.5 of magnesia, in which case it would be injurious 
to weak soils to apply more than from twenty-five to thirty 
bushels per statute acre, though in rich soils double that 
quantity may be used, and still more with peat, on which 
soil it would have a most powerful effect in producing fer- 
tility. 

4. Mode of jireparin^ it for use. Limestone is burnt in 
kilns of various constructions. It is applied with advantage 
to soils recently reclaimed in a caustic state ; but is gene- 
rally slacked, by throwing water upon the lumps, until they 
crack and swell, and fall down into a fine powder. This 
operation, when it is to be done, should not be delayed ; for 
if properly burnt, calcined lime is easily reduced into a li e 
powder, which may not be the case if the slacking be pos- 
poned. If water cannot easily be obtained, the lumps may 
either be divided into small heaps and covered with earth, 



184 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

by the moisture of which they are soon pulverized, or made 
into largo heaps, the lumps and earth six inches thick, and 
the whole covered with earth. Where it can easily be had, 
it is a great advantage to slack the calcined limestone for 
manure with sea-water or urine. When applied to land in 
a powdery state, lime tends to bring any hard vegetable 
matter that the soil contains into a more rapid state of de- 
composition and solution, so as to render it a proper food for 
plants. 

5. AppWcalion. Summer is the proper season for liming 
land. 'Jhat experienced farmer, Mr. Rennie of Phantassie, 
is of opinion, that the most profitable period for applying 
lime is when the land is under summer fallow, in the months 
of June and July, that it may be completely mixed with the 
soil before the crop is sown. This is also the general prac- 
tice in other districts. For a turnip crop, it should be laid 
on early in the spring before the turnips are drilled, in order 
that the lime may be thoroughly incorporated with the soil, 
by the ploughings and harrowings it will receive ; the land 
will thus have time to cool, and the lime will not dry up the 
moisture necessary for bringing the turnips into leaf. For 
potatoes, lime is not to be recommended, as it is apt to burn 
and blister their skins. When applied to old ley, it is a good 
practice to spread it on the surface previously to the land 
being broken up, by which it is fixed firmly on the sward. 
One year has been found of use ; but when done three 
years before, it had produced still greater advantages ; in 
the former case, the increase of oats being only at the rate 
of six to one, and in the latter, that of ten to one of the seed 
sown. The quantity applied must vary according to the 
soil. From two hundred and forty to three hundred bushels 
of unslacked lime may be applied on strong lands with ad- 
vantage. Even six hundred bushels have been laid on at 
once, on strong clays, with great success. On light soils, a 
much smaller quantity will answer, say from one hundred 
and fifty to two hundred bushels ; but these small doses 
ought to be more frequently repeated. When applied on 
the surface of bogs or moors, the quantity used is very con- 
siderable, and the more that is laid on, the greater the im- 
provement. The real quantity, however, of calcareous mat- 
ter used, depends upon the quality of the stone. It often 
happens, that five chaldrons do not furnish more effective ma- 
nure than three, because they do not contain three-fifths of 
calcareous matter. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 185 

6. Effects of Lime. Many farmers have subjected them- 
selves to an expense at the rate of ten shillings per acre per 
annum for the lime they used, and have been amply remu- 
nerated. The benefit derived in tiie cultivation of greea 
crops is sufficient for that purpose. Such crops may be 
raised by large quantities of dung ; but where calcareous 
substances are applied, it is proved, by long experience, that 
a less quantity of animal and vegetable manure will answer 
the purpose. This is making the larm-yard dung go farther, 
with more powerful and more permanent effects ; and from 
the weightier crops thus raised, the quantity of manure on a 
farm will be most materially augmented. Indeed, upon land 
in a proper state tor calcareous application, (as old ley,) lime 
is much superior to dung. Its effects continue for a longer 
period, while the crops produced are of a superior quality, 
and less susceptible of injury from the excesses of drought 
and moisture. The ground likewise, more especially if it 
be of a strong nature, is much more easily wrought; and, in 
some instances, thf. savins; of labor alone would be sufficient 
to induce a farmer to lime his land, were no greater benefit 
derived from the application than the opportunity thereby 
gained of working it in a more perfect manner. 

7. Rules for the manage ineiil of Lime. 1. It is necessary 
to ascertain the quality of the soil to which lime is proposed 
to be applied ; and whether it has formerly been limed; and 
to what extent. In general, it may be observed, that strong 
loams and stubborn clays require a full dose to bring them 
into action, as such soils are capable of absorbing a great 
quantity of calcareous matter. Lighter soils, however, re- 
quire less lime to stimulate them ; and may be injured by 
administering a quantity of lime recently calcined, that would 
prove moderately beneficial to those of a heavy nature. 2. 
As the effects of lime greatly depend on its intimate admix- 
ture with the surface soils, it is expedient to have it in a 
powdered state before it is applied, and the drier and the 
more perfectly powdered the better. 3. Lime having a ten- 
dency to sink in the soil, it cannot be ploughed in with too 
shallow a furrow, or kept too near the surface. 4. Lime 
ought not to be applied a second time to weak or poor soils, 
unless mixed with a compost ; after which the land should 
be immediately laid down to grass. * 

The following, on the " Stimulation of Soils," was written 

* Encyclopaedia of Agriculture. 
16* 



186 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

by the Hon. John Welles, of Boston, and published in the 
New England Farmer. 

" From a frequent perusal of the benefits derived from lime 
in its application to soil in Europe, I have been induced for 
more than a score of years, successively, to make use of it 
for agricultural purposes, to the extent of more than one 
hundred casks annually. 

" One of my first experiments arose from a desire to give 
a top-dressing to a piece of land, which it was otherwise in- 
convenient to do. The soil was a heavy black loam. Hav- 
ing a quantity of black earth from a trench, (or top stratum,) 
I procured a quantity of lime. A bottom of four or five buck 
loads of earth was first placed; then a couple of casks of 
Hnie were spread thereon; then earth and lime again, till 
my materials were used, or the quantity needed was had, at 
the rate of eight or ten casks to the acre; thus a cask be- 
ing supposed to produce about five bushels of slacked lime, 
the cost of which, if the casks are swelled and the lime 
partly slacked, is eight to ten cents a bushel. This is the 
most moderate application in Europe, and the cost is about 
the same. 

"This mixture, after lying twelve or fourteen days, was 
shovelled over, and after some days being found fine and 
well mixed, was spread from the cart on the ground. To 
my surprise, I found the effect produced to be equal to what 
is usual from common compost manure ! 

" In England, where lime is most used for agricultural 
purposes, it is considered that in its crude state, or uncal- 
cined state, it is most beneficial, if pounded or made fine. 
This, where limestone abounds, it is well to know; but there 
is little of it in this neighbourhood. Encouraged by this 
experiment, I continued to purchase and apply considera- 
able quantities of damaged and air-slacked lime* in my cul- 
tivation, particularly for a low, flat piece of land. This be- 
ing intersected with small ditches, furnished the earth I 
was not able otherwise to procure to mix with the lime It 
is not well, however, in such cases, to lower the surface by 
taking off more than will keep the ditches open. When the 
earth is tough with sward, &c., it may be made finer by be- 
ing carted out and put in heaps on the ground, and spread 
afterwards. Indeed this is done to great advantage in the 

* Lime long exposed to the air, such as sweepings of stores, &c., is of less 
value and nioi-e cheaply obtained. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 187 

winter; the poaching the land, or making a rough surface 
for the scythe, being then well avoided. 

" As tiiis land cannot advantageously be ploughed, I have, 
in applying every third year a top dressing, as my custom 
is, alternated, giving first a dressing of earth and lime, and 
at the expiration of three years, a coat of compost manure. 

" This has been done on the principle that a more judi- 
cious mixture would be made, and a better composition of 
soil be had. I have been guided herein from general rea- 
soning, not from any proof that the lime might not be re- 
peated. 

" It seems, however, to be a prevailing opinion, where 
lime has been most in use, that it opens the sod and makes 
it more porous, giving thereby a better action to other ma- 
nures, which a judicious husbandry should in succession ap- 
ply. In this application of lime to a grass sward, in. a deep 
springy soil, I have been for a long time well satisfied. It 
was several years before I undertook the same practice on a 
light soil, and I did it with less expectation. But I was 
somewhat surprised to find it equally beneficial. 

" So far lime has been mentioned as a component article 
in top-dressing for a green sward. Its effect will be shown 
on ploughed land, and in a grain crop. 

" With a view of increasing fertility, I frequently have 
applied on the side of the hills of Indian corn a small hand- 
ful of slacked lime. I so placed it, lest the caustic quality 
of the lime should prove injurious to the tender plant when 
it first started from the soil. This is my opinion and prac- 
tice; though I have often since seen large pieces slacken 
and expand on the soil without injury to the grass, which in 
a lively green color pierced through it. This application of 
lime to the hill I continued for some time, and though small 
in quantity or effect. I still thought it of some advantage. I 
was led, however, to a more extensive and satisfactory exper- 
iment. 

" I had a piece of ground of about four acres, of rather 
light soil, which gave promise of a very small crop of grass. 
Being without the means of obtaining manure, as I had a 
quantity of earth of the top stratum, taken up on building a 
wall, I forthwith procured a quantity of lime and mixed it in 
the manner before mentioned. About the middle of June 
I had the grass mowed and the land ploughed. The lime 
compost was then spread and lightly harrowed in. An early 
sort of yellow corn, which when ripe husked itself, was pro- 



188 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

cured. And my neighbours, who knew the process, were, in 
the fall of the year, much surprised by the stout ears of 
golden grain thus unfolded to view ! 

" It has been observed, that if lime is a fertilizer of soil, 
why is it that where it abounds and often forms an under 
stratum a greater fertility does not prevail ? To this it may 
be answered, that lime is a constituent principle, it is believ- 
ed, in ail soil, and may be supplied, where from experience a 
deficiency is found. But when it superabounds, as in most 
other things, excess may be injurious. In all this more ex- 
perience is wished for, as the only safe and profitable 
guide." 

The following is extracted from a letter from Daniel Buck- 
ley, Esq., of Salisbury, Pennsylvania, to J. Buel, Esq. pub- 
lished in " Memoirs of the New York Board of Agriculture," 
Vol. Ill: p. 124. 

"The land which I cultivate, according to M'Clure's trea- 
tise, is transition, composed of white and yellow clay and 
limestone, much of the latter appearing on the surface, in- 
termixed with flint. Upon tliis soil I have made a liberal 
use of lime, ever since the year 1790, and think I have been 
well rewarded for the expense and labor, by the increased 
value of my crops. 

" The method of applying the lime which I have adopted 
in common with my neighl)ours is, in the first place, to plough 
up a sod field with a strong team, in the spring or fall; har- 
row it the wny it is ploughed, and mark the field into as 
many squares as you intend to put on half-bushels, say one 
hundred on the acre, which will bring the furrows about 
twenty feet apart each way, and require fifty bushels to the 
acre. This quantity I have found to be most profitable. 
When the lime is burnt, and as soon as it is cool enough to 
handle, it ought to be hauled on the land already marked, 
and a half bushel deposited in the centre of each square, in 
as compact a heap as possible. If water is convenient, I 
prefer to slack the lime immediately, rather than to wait for 
rain, as it becomes finer and can be more evenly spread. As 
soon as it has slacked, it is immediately spread and well har- 
rowed. This method I prefer for Indian corn, barley, oats, 
rye, and potatoes. On all the above crops I have experienc- 
ed a great benefit from lime the first year after its applica- 
tion. With potatoes I add about fifteen two-horse loads of 
barn-yard manure to the acre, before planting. A second 
liming is often given, and much approved of, after an interval 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST^ 189 

of three or more years. This amalgamates better, and can 
be more intimately mixed with the soil. 

" There are good farmers who differ as to the quantity of 
lime that is most profitably applied; some say sixty bushels 
on the acre, some seventy, and some more. I have applied 
one hundred on an acre of limestone land, at a dressing; but 
have not been able to discover any benefit from using it 
thus freely, nor any injury except in the loss of lime. 

" Wheat seldom receives any benefit from lime until the 
second or third year after it has been applied, except it has 
been mixed in a compost of yard manure and earth! This 
method is much practised in the lower counties of this State; 
though not by good farmers, until they have applied lime as 
the basis of melioration. By this management they have 
raised their lands from an impoverished state, produced by 
injudicious cropping, to such a state of fertility, as, I am in- 
formed, to enable them to fatten a bullock of six hundred 
weight on an acre, and to cut grass from the same acre suffi- 
cient to winter another. 

" Sandy soils are greatly improved by the use of lime. 
I lately purchased some of that kind, which was originally 
covered with chestnut timber, and was called mountain land. 
It has been cleared seventy years; but lying a distance from 
tlie farm buildings, had never received any manure but a 
dressing of lime. This land 1 have had repeatedly farmed 
since I owned it; and although to appearance it seemed to 
be almost a caput mortuum, with the aid of ten or twelve 
four-horse loads of the gleanings of a yard of a public house, 
it has produced as much, and as good wheat, rye, oats, tinjo- 
thy, and clover to the acre, as any land in the township in 
which it lays. I consider the liming which it had fifty years 
ago as the principal cause of its fertility. 

" It is a general opinion amongst good farmers, that liming 
should be repeated every ten or fifteen years, and that the 
increased crops richly compensate the expense. It matters 
very little how it is applied, provided it is evenly spread im- 
mediately after it is slacked. If suffered to air-slack, or to 
lie after it has been water-slacked, it re-irabibes carbonic 
acid, which the fire had expelled, becomes lumpy, and is 
more difficult to be incorporated with the soil. Some spread 
it upon the sod and plough it under, and think they have as 
much profit from it in this way as in any other. When thus 
applied, it powerfully contributes to decompose the tougher 



IftO THE COMPLETE FARi ER 

fibres of the sod, and to convert them into nutriment for the 
crop." 

Gypsum, or Plaster of Paris. It is said, that the pro- 
perties of gypsutn as a manure were first discovered in Ger- 
many, by a laborer, at a quarry of that substance. In passing 
across a meadow to shorten the distance home, he observed 
the luxuriance of the grass where he had walked, and sup- 
posing it to be caused by the dust of the gypsum from his 
feet and clothes, made experiments, which verified his sup- 
position. 

Great differences exist among agriculturists respecting the 
uses of gypsum and the manner of its operation. Some 
have supposed that its efficiency as a manure is altogether" 
owing to its power of attracting moisture from the air. But 
Sir Humphrey Davy expressed an opinion, that but little 
effect can be produced by such attraction. " When com- 
bined with water," he observed, " it retains that fluid too 
powerfully to yield it to the roots of the plant, and its ad- 
hesive attraction for moisture is inconsiderable; the small 
quantity in which it is used likewise is a circumstance un- 
favorable to this idea." Some have supposed that gypsum 
assists in the |)utreiliction of animal substances, and the de- 
composition of the manure in the soil. This philosopher, 
however, proved by repeated experiments, that it rather re- 
tards than accelerates putrefaction. He likewise says, " In 
examining the a<hes of sainloih, clover, and rye grass, I 
found that they afforded considerable quantities of gypsum; 
and this substance probably is intimately combined as a ne- 
cessary part of the woody fibre. If this be allowed, it is 
easy to explain why it operates in such small quantities; 
for the whole of a clover crop, or sainfoin crop, on an acre, 
according to my estimation, would afford by incineration 
only three or four bushels of gypsum. The reason why 
gypsum is not generally more efficacious, is probably be- 
cause that most cultivated soils contain it in sufficient 
quantities for the use of the grasses. In the common course 
of cultivation gypsum is furnished in the manure ; for it is 
contained in stable dung, and in the dung of cattle fed on 
grass. Lord Dundas informs me, that having tried gypsum 
without any benefit on two of his estates in Yorkshire, he 
was induced to have the soil examined for gypsum, and this 
substance was found in both soils."* 

* Elements of Agricultural Chemistry, Lecture VII. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 191 

It has been made a question, whether burning and calcin- 
ing gypsum make any dilierence with regard to its fertihzing 
properties. This is said to be the practice among French 
cultivators, and was hkewise recommended by Dr. Deane. 
But an Knghsh writer on agriculture observes, that " calcin- 
ing is not likely to make any difference, because the sulphu- 
ric acid in gypsum catniot be expelled by the most violent 
heat of the furnace; and an experiment of Arthur Young 
countenances the assertion, that the effects of gypsum are the 
same, whether calcined or rougij." 

Dr. Joseph E. Muse, of Maryland, in an essay on the sub- 
ject of gypsum, and its mode of operation, published in the 
"American Farmer," (Vol. I. p. 3r3;>,) gives it as his opinion, 
" that the chief, if not the only cause of the efficacy of gyp- 
sum in promoting vegetation, is to be found in its tendency 
to become phosphoric," and produced many facts and deduc- 
tions therefrom, to show that gypsum by exposure to the at- 
mosphere becomes phosphoric ; and that phosphorus exists ia 
vegetables. 

The late Dr. Gorham, in a paper read before a Society in 
Boston, observed, " When plaster of Paris is applied to the 
seed it stimulates 'the little root, the action of the vessels is 
thus increased, absorption goes on more rapidly, and it ac- 
quires more nourishment for a given time than in ordinary 
circumstances; the consequences are a quick growth and 
enlargement of the organs." 

Colonel Taylor, of Virginia, observed, in substance, that 
he sows of plaster from three pecks to one bushel to the 
acre. Sown on clover in the spring, it benefits it consider- 
ably. The best way of using it is in the spring upon the 
long manure of the preceding winter, to be ploughed in with 
it. He thinks it a valuable ally, but by no means a substi- 
tute for manure. That there should be intervals of two, 
three, or four years between applying it to the same land. 
That its effect is graduated by the quantity of vegetable 
matter on which it is sown. That on closely grazed land it 
does little good at first, and repeated would become i)erni- 
cious; and that it must be united either with long manure 
of the winter, or the ungrazed vegetable cover produced in 
the summer. That all crops are ultimately improved by its 
improving the soil, even when its effects are not immediately 
visible; but he does not recommend it as a top-dressing, 
except for clover. 

M. Canolle, a French writer, observes, that plaster, act- 



1-92 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

ing chiefly on the absorbent system of plants, its effects are 
not like those of manure buried in the soil, which act prin- 
cipally on the roots. The latter, according to their particu- 
lar nature, divide, soften, enrich, warm, or stiffen the sods 
with which they are mixed. Tiie quantity of plaster spread 
upon the land is so trifling that it can have little effect on 
the soil. I speak from e.xperience. Plaster buried in the 
earth where sainfoin has been sown, has produced little al- 
teration; whilst the same quantity of plaster spread over the 
same surface of sainfoin has produced the most beautiful 
vegetation. 

" From this experience, so uniform in the application of 
plaster, I am led to believe, that one must consult as well 
the nature of the soil, as the kind of plants to which we ap- 
ply plaster. Thus, whatever may be the soil, on which clo- 
ver, lucerne, and sainfoin naturally flourish vigorously, or 
with that vigor which encourages us to apply manure, there 
is no risk in trying plaster. 

"It is to be remarked, that plaster operates on plants in a 
direct ratio to the size and number of their leaves. I have 
spread plaster on land where sainfoin was mixed with the 
common grasses which compose our meadows. The growth 
of the sainfoin and wild honey-suckle has been beyond com- 
parison greater than that of the common grasses. It is to 
this cause I attribute the lailure of success on grass ground 
chiefly filled with common grasses. I have a field of lucerne 
separated from a natural meadow only by a brook. I have 
greatly increased the lucerne by the plaster, whilst the effect 
of a like quantity on the adjoining grass land was scarcely, 
if at all perceivable. 

" It has been ascertained by repeated experiments, that a 
liberal application of plaster to clover, at the time of turning 
it down and preparing for a wheat crop, is by far the most 
advantageous to the crop, and much preferable to turning in 
the clover in the usual vvay, and plastering on the surface. 
The action of the plaster, thus excluded from atmospheric 
air, upon the clover, covered over, is instantaneous, and the 
putridity is so certain as to cause considerable gas, which in 
its passage through the clod impregnates it with all its ma- 
nuring qualities, and the root of the plant shoots down and 
feeds on a bed of manure."* 

A writer for " The New England Farmer," (Vol. II. p. 

* American Farmer. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 193 

10,) states, in substance, as results of his experience, that 
plaster was found by him to be uselul as manure, after hav- 
ing been kept on hand in a box seven years; that its benefi- 
cial effects on pasture land are very great. He sows it on 
the same piece of ground every second year, and thinks five 
or six pecks to an acre are sufficient; that his pasturing is 
essentially improved by that application, producing nearly 
double the quantity of food which it formerly did; that sow- 
ing plaster on his grazing land had a tendency to destroy 
the bushes, by giving increased luxuriance to the grass; that 
this manure has been found very useful for flax and pota- 
toes, &c. 

Dr. Cooper, editor of the last Philadelphia edition of 
" Willich's Domestic Encyclopedia," says, " Gypsum will 
not answer beyond two and a half bushels to the acre ; one 
and a half bushel is better. It will not answer on wet or 
swampy, or clayey soils. It should be scattered over the 
ground as a top-dressing. Suppose you were asked if a 
stone brought you is gypsum. 1. Gypsum can be scratched 
by the nail, scraped by a knife, ground by the teeth. 2. It 
will not dissolve in spirits of salt as limestone will; nor is 
it half so hard as limestone. 3. Its color and crystalline 
appearance distinguish it from clay ; nor does it give a clayey 
odor when breathed upon, unless clay be mixed with it. 4. 
Powder it, boil it to dryness, with four times its weight of 
pot or pearlash. Wash out all that the hot water will dis- 
solve ; the remaining powder (if the stone be gypsum) is 
carbonate of lime." 

Gypsum has been highly recommended as a manure for 
potatoes. The potatoes, just before planting, should be wet 
and rolled in pulverized plaster; and a handful of plaster 
applied immediately after the first and second hoeing to the 
leaves, and scattered over the hill. 

A writer for "The Genesee Farmer," with the signature 
" Onondago," observes, "Plaster is always to be sown on 
wheat unless the land is wanted for a spring crop the next 
year, after clover seed, at the rate of one, two, or even 
three bushels per acre. After harvest the young clover 
ought not to be pastured much, if any; the next year the 
clover is suffered to grow as large as it can be, and be well 
turned over, which is then done, the ground fallowed and the 
wheat sown; the next year sow the clover seed and plaster, 
and so on from year to year ad infinitum, the land alwaya 
getting better, as is supposed by those who practise this 
17 



194 THE COMPLETE FARMEK 

method. Plaster we think should be sown in pasture. An 
old farmer, and one who has proved his skill by making a 
fortune at the business, and who now tills nearly five hun- 
dred acres, told me, that a ton of plaster sown on ten acres 
of pasture would make it yield as much as fifteen acres un- 
der the like circumstances without plaster." 

J. Spicer, in " Goodsell's Farmer," says, " When I apply 
plaster to corn, which I have done for nearly three years 
past, I mix it with one-half leached ashes, as they are leached 
for common family use ; put it in a cart, and shovel and mix 
it well. I then put one gill to the hill immediately after the 
first hoeing, and the same thing over after the second hoe- 
ing. 1 have tried the same quantity of clear plaster, side 
and side, twice, and find the mi.vture to produce the greatest 
effects." 

The Hon. J. Lowell, in an article published in "The 
New England Farmer," (Vol. V. p. 1,) contradicts an idea 
which has been generally prevalent, that gypsum is of no 
use to lands near the seacoast, and observes as follows : 

" I shall set out with the fact, that plaster has been used 
with success on lands on the seacoast of France, where the 
southwest wind, the prevalent one in summer, in that coun- 
try, brings with it the ocean air : and in our country, in 
Massachusetts, for example, the prevalent winds do not bring 
with them an atmosphere filled with saline particles. It can- 
not therefore be the vicinity to the sea which renders gypsum 
inert and inefficacious with us. The cause of its inelficacy 
near the seacoast, must therefore be sought for in something 
else ; in the nature of our soil, perhaps already sutBciently 
imbued with the constituent parls of gypsum, or in our more 
free use of stable manure, which furnishes the plants with 
all the food they require. 

" I have been in a constant and invariable course of ex- 
periments on plaster, and these are the results. It seems to 
be of no use, ever, to clover, on low meadow lands ; of no 
use to amj plants on a good rich, well-manured soil. But I 
have thiee decisive proofs of its utility on dry, hilly, gravelly 
soils. 

" The first I shall mention, was an experiment made by the 
late R. S. Esq., of Roxbury, on a lofty hill of old pasture 
land. He applied it for several years, and his own convic- 
tion was, and it was also the full conviction of many others, 
that it materially improved the condition of his pasture. It 
was green at an earlier period, and the white clover came 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 195 

into it more generally and luxuriantly than into other lands 
in the same situation. 

" Seven years since, I applied plaster to a newly laid down 
field of clover, one half of which was a dry, gravelly knoll, 
with very little vegetable soil. When it was tit for cutting, 
I showed it to the trustees of the JVIassachuselts v^^gricultu- 
ral Society, and without pointing out to them the part to 
which the plaster had been applied, they at once, on sight 
of it, detected and pointed out the superiority of the crop 
on the part to which the gypsum had been applied ; and 
their designation agreed, by metes and bounds, with the 
stakes i had driven, indicating the part to which plaster had 
been applied, and which were tben concealed by the grass. 
This superior crop was on a pure gravelly soil, far inferioi; 
to the rest, which was a deep rich loam. 

" This year I had a piece of clover in its second year of 
growth. It was similarly situated. Two thirds of it was a 
gravelly, thin soil. I cut the whole on the 10th day of June. 
The gravelly part, owing to the drought, did not yield more 
than half a ton to the acre ; the rich part an excellent crop. 
As soon as the hay was in, I gave a dressing of plaster to 
the gravelly knoll only, at the rate of three bushels to the 
acre. 

" The eflfect has been as great as has ever been represent- 
ed to be produced by gypsum by persons in the interior. 
The second crop on the gravelly land is far superior to that 
on a rich and deep soil in the same field It may be discov- 
ered at ten rods' distance ; and you can mark by your eyes 
precisely the line of the ground to which the plaster was 
applied. 

" Gypsum is of no service on low lands, or on good land, 
nor of much use to any products except to clover and lu- 
cerne; but on sandy and gravelly soils, and applied to these 
plants, especially in dry seasons, I am convinced it will 
prove valuable. I paid only four dollars for ten bushels, 
ground; and I applied only sixty cents' worth to this land, 
and am convinced, that the plaster will increase the value of 
the second crop to five times the cost of the application " 

A writer for '* The Genesee Farmer," with the signature 
" V. W. S.," recommends to sow plaster from the box of a 
wagon, driven slowly over the field in which it is to be dis- 
tributed. He sowed l\ve and a half bushels of plaster over 
four acres of meadow in just an hour, and performed his 
work tvell; sowed the grcund twice over, extending the cast 



196 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

each time to the track the wheels last made, by which the 
driver guided his course across the lot. The writer recom- 
mends a windy day for his purpose, and believes a yoke of 
cattle might be preferable to a horse. He says : 

" It will be readily perceived, that while my mode of sow- 
ing plaster makes a great saving of manual strength, the 
great advantage derived from it is, in the expedition with 
which the process is performed. One man and boy. in a 
one-horse cart, can dress from forty to sixty acres per day ; 
thus making a very important saving of time, at a season 
when the farmer is obliged to husband closely. The injury 
of driving a wagon over a tield of grain would be but little, 
and could not be considered a moment, when compared with 
the value of the time gained. In sowing from a wagon it 
will be found necessary to stop occasionally, to pick up or 
loosen the plaster, which becomes compacted by its motion. 
The elevated position of the sower enables him to make a 
very broad cast, and if advantage is taken of the wind, he 
will be able to avoid the respiration of any great quantities 
of dust." 

Marl consists of calcareous matter, clay, and sand, or ' 
some two of these earths, (of which lime or chalk is always 
one.) in various proportions. The blue clay marl is free 
from sand. Clay marl is also sometimes of a yellowish 
white, yellowish gray, or a brown or red ( ast. The shell 
marl seldom contains clay. In schistus or stone marl, some- 
times sand and sometimes clay preponderates, generally the 
former. The sand marl, whether shell or schistus, should 
be applied to clays; and clay marls to sands. In both cases 
they correct the defects of the soil, by rendering it, in 
the first, less adhesive ; and, in the latter, less open and 
porous. 

The earths are not the food of plants. They constitute 
the stomach, analogous to the stomach of animals, in which 
vegetable and animal matter is received, digested, and with 
the aid of the leaves [lungs] assimilated to vegetable chyle 
and blood. The best soil for this digestive process, is that 
in which the three above-named earths are suitably bler)ded. 

A sandy or gravelly soil is called hungry, because it 
digests rapidly, and dissipates the food committed to its bo- 
som. Hence green cro|)s, or frequent manurings, are ne- 
cessary to continue it healthy and productive. Such soils 
are defective in clay and calcareous matter. Their texture 
may therefore be improved, and their tertility increased, by 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 197 

the application of clay marl; or, what is the same, by clay 
and lime separately; though these materials are found most 
pure and best blended in the substance of marl. The quan- 
tity should be proportioned to the natural deficiency of these 
materials in the soil. From eight to one hundred loads per 
acre have been applied in one or two dressings; and their 
beneficial effects have been known to continue thirty years. 
All the sand soils of Norfolk, England, have been marled 
[clayedj. Calcareous matter, combined with sulphuric acid 
[oil of vitriol], is usefully applied to soils in the form of gyp- 
sum, or plaster of Paris; as is also powdered limestone and 
chalk, both calcareous. 1 am induced to believe that neither 
wheat nor sainfoin grass will thrive in a soil destitute of 
calcareous matter, which is the condition with most of our 
Bands. 

A stilF, moist clay, is called cold, and is unfriendly to the 
finer grasses as well as grains. Its texture is too compact 
to permit the roots to extend freely, and its temperature too 
cold to carry on the digestive process sufficiently rapid for 
the plants which grow upon its surface. Sand and lime, or 
siliceous marl, loosen its texture, render it permeable to 
heat, kc, and powerfully assist to concoct the food of vege- 
tables. 

Marl may be known by the most ordinary observer. The 
application of a mineral acid, and even of good vinegar, will 
cause an elfervescence. This is the operation of the acid 
upon the lime. Its siliceous and argillaceous properties may 
be ascertained by the sight and feeling, b)' the aid of water, 
er of glass. Sand subsides or settles quicker than clay in a 
liquid; and will scratch glass, which clay will not. 

It is a remarkable fact in the economy of nature, that the 
indigenous plants of every country are precisely those which 
are best adapted to furnish the proper sustenance to its ani- 
mal population, and to satisfy its medicinal wants. So in 
regard to our soils; every district generally aff*ords the means 
of producing fertility. Hence the clay marls generally un- 
derlay sands ; and shell and sand marls most abound in the 
neighbourhood of clays. And in addition to the variety of 
fossil substances which are calculated to increase fertility, 
every thing that grows upon the earth, every particle of ani- 
mal and vegetable matter, is reduced to air and water by the 
chemical operations of nature, and in these forms become 
the food of new plants, to nourish animals. It is a truth 
calculated to teach humility, that the animal, the vegetable, 
17* 



198 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

and the putrid mass of dung, are found on chemical analysis 
to be very nearly alike, and that, in the natural order of 
things, they constantly nourish, feed, and produce each oth- 
er. " Nothing is nourishment for a vegetable but what 
enters into the permanent composition of a vegetable. 
Nothing is nourishment for an animal but what was original- 
ly a vegetable." Man is enjoined to earn his bread by the 
sweat of his brow. He finds the most noble incitements to 
duty scattered around him, and he is seldom disappointed 
in obtaining the rewards, competence, and health, which 
industry promises to her votaries. But 1 have another re- 
mark to make as to the food of vegetables. How scrupu- 
lously careful is the farmer of his grain, hay, and roots, 
which are destined to iiourish and fatten his animals ; and 
yet how thoughtless and inattentive as to the food of his 
plants ! Vegetable and animal substances are suffered to 
waste in his fields and yards, unmindful of the havoc which 
the rains, winds, and sand, are daily making upon them; 
while a moiety of his fertilizing materials, the urine of his 
stock, is altogether lust. He will not suffer the flocks of 
his neighbours to rob his own of their food; yet he sees, with 
but feeble efforts to prevent it, his plants plundered by 
pestiferous weeds of the food which is essential to their 
health and vigor. 

"To find the composition of a marl, pour a Ccw ounces of 
diluted muriatic acid into a Florence flask; place them in a 
scale, and let them be balanced: then reduce a few ounces 
of dry marl into powder; and let this powder be carefully 
and gradually thrown into the flask, until, after repeated ad- 
ditions, no farther effervescence is perceived. Let the re- 
mainder of the powdered marl be weighed, by which the 
quantity projected will be known. Let the balance be then 
restored. The difference of weight between the quantity 
projected and that requisite to restore the balance, will show 
the weight of air lost during effervescence. [That air pro- 
ceeds from the calcareous earth alone, which contains forty- 
four per cent, of this carbonic acid air. Suppose five 
hundred grains of marl lose forty-four grains by the escape 
of air, then that marl contained one hundred grains, or one- 
fifth of its whole weight, of limestone. — T. C] If the loss 
amount to twenty or twenty-five per cent, of the quantity of 
marl projected, the marl assayed is calcareous marl, or marl 
rich in calcareous earth. Clayey marls, or those in which 
the argillaceous ingredient prevails, lo.se only eight or ten 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. l99 

per cent, of their weight by this treatment, and sandy marls 
about the same proportion. The presence of much argilla- 
ceous earth may be judged by drying the marl, after being 
washed with spirit of salt, when it will harden and form a 
brick. 

"To determine with still greater precision the quantity of 
calcareous earth in marl, let the solution in muriatic acid be 
fdtered and mixed with a solution of carbonate of potash, 
till no farther precipitation appear. Let the sediment sub- 
side; wash it well with water; lay it on a filter, previously 
weighed, and dry it. The weight of the dry mass will show 
how much carbonate of lime the quantity of marl submitted 
to experiment contained. See Kirwan on Manures. 

" The quantity necessary to be used, varies according to 
the nature of the soil; but the utmost caution is requisite, 
because if too large a portion be scattered on the land, it 
cannot be easily removed, and if too little be employed, the 
deficiency may be readily supplied. On sandy, gravelly, or 
light soils, it will be advisable to spread as much as will 
form a thick coat, in order to bind and stiffen the ground. 
But, of whatever nature the land may be, the most judicious 
cultivators recommend such a portion to be laid on it, as will 
form a thin coat over the whole surface. 

" The proper season for marlinp; is the summer; as this 
kind of manure is then perfectly dry, and not only lighter, 
but also more easily reduced to a powder. Marl, however, 
may be advantageously spread during the winter frosts; as 
in the latter season, there are few opportunities of perform- 
ing other labors of the field. 

" Previously to marling, the land ought to be diligently 
cleared from all weeds, and rendered level, both with the 
brake and the common harrow, so that the marl may be 
equally spread on the surface, where it should be suffered to 
lie during the winter. In the month of February, [March, 
or April,] and in dry weather, it will be proper to draw a 
bush-harrow, well weighted, over the land, that the marl 
may be uniformly distributed ; but, as this manure is very 
ponderous, and sinks to the bottom of the furrow, if injudi- 
ciously ploughed in, it has been suggested to turn it into an 
•ebb-fitrrow for ti>e first crop : during the growth of the latter, 
the marl will incorporate with and become a part of the 
soil, from which it does not readily separate. So permanent, 
indeed, are its fertilizing properties, that if land be properly 
marled, it will continue arable for the space of twelve or 



200 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

fourteen years ; and, for pasture, during a much longer 
period. 

" A good artificial marl may be prepared by mixing equal 
quantities of pure clay and lime, in alternate layers, so as to 
form a heap, which should be exposed to the winter frost : 
this compound is well calculated for light lands ; but if the 
soil be strong and heavy, it will be necessary to substitute 
loam and sand for the clay. Such compositions may be 
usefully employed where tnarl is not easily procured ; as 
tliey will amply repay the labor bestowed on mixing them, 
being little inttaior to the genuine calcareous earth." — 
Domestic Eucijclopedia. 

An English writer on agriculture observes, that " whoever 
finds marl finds a mine of great value. It is one of the best 
and most general manures in nature; proper for all soils, 
and particularly so for clay." It is usually found under 
moss or peat, in low sunken lands, and especially nigh the 
sea or large rivers. It has been sometimes discovered by 
ant-hills, as those insects bring up small pieces of shells from 
their holes. 

Peat is a well-known substance, used both for manure and 
for fuel. In its natural state peat is of but little or no ser- 
vice as manure, but by exposing it to the effects of fermenta- 
tion it becomes very useful as (bod for plants. In its unfer- 
inented state it contains a considerable quantity of tannin, 
which is a powerful astringent, resisting all approaches to 
putrefaction ; and is iini>regnated with acids injurious to 
vegetation, which can be expelled by fermentation with barn- 
yard manure, and other suitable substances. 

The following method of preparing peat for manure is 
extracted from a small treatise by lord Meadowbanks, which 
was printed and distributed gratis among the Scottish pea- 
santry, and has been highly approved of both by practical 
and scientific cultivators. 

" Let the peat-moss, of which compost is to be formed, 
be thrown out of the pit for some weeks or months, in order 
to lose its redundant moisture. By this means it is rendered 
the lighter to carry, and less compact and weighty, when 
made up with fresh dung for fermentation; and accordingly, 
less dung is required for the purpose, than if the preparation 
is made with peat taken recently from the pit. The peat 
taken from near the surface, or at a considerable depth, an- 
swers equally well. And the more compact the peat, and 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 201 

the fitter to prove goo.d fuel, so much the more promising it 
is to be prepared for manure. 

" Take the peat-moss to a dry spot, convenient for con- 
structing a dunghill, to serve the field to be manured. Lay 
the cart-loads of it in two rows, and of the dung in a row 
betwixt them. The dung thus lies on the area of the com- 
post dunghill, and the rows of peat should be near enough 
each other, that workmen in making up the compost may be 
able to throw them together by the spade. In making up, 
let the workmen begin at one end; and at the extremity of 
the row of dung, (which siiould not extend quite so far at 
that end as the rows of peat on each side of it do,) let them 
lay a bottom of peat, six inches deep, and fifteen feet wide. 
Then throw forward, and lay about ten inches of dung above 
the bottom of peat; then four or five of dung ; and then 
cover it over with peat at the end where it was begun, at 
the two sides, and above. The compost should not be 
raised above four feet and a half high, otherwise it is apt to 
press too heavily on the under parts, and check the fermen- 
tation: unless the peat, when dry, be very puffy and light, 
and then a much greater height is desirable. Neither should 
it be much lower, otherwise it will prove wanting in the 
compactness, and soon also, if the weather is very dry, in 
the moisture required for the ingredients of which it con- 
sists, to act chemically on each other. When a beginning 
is thus made, the workmen will proceed working backwards, 
and adding to the column of compost as they are fiirnished 
with the three rows of materials directed to be laid down 
for them. They must take care not to tread on the compost, 
or render it too compact; and of consequence, in propor- 
tion as the peat is wet, it should be made up in lumps, and 
not much mashed or broken. 

" In mild weather, seven cart-loads of common farm-yard 
dung, tolerably fresh made, is sufficient for twent}'-one cart- 
loads of peat-moss; but in cold weather, a larger proportion 
of dung is desirable; at least, it is prudent to omit putting 
any peat between the two upper layers of dung, and rather 
thicken the outer coating with peat. It is also proper in 
winter, if ground with a dry bottom can be conveniently em- 
ployed for the purpose, to increase greatly the breadth of the 
dunghill, which, in that case, maybe done without any limit, 
by adding, all round the dunghill, circles, consisting of layers 
of dung and peat, of seven feet in breadth. And if tlie mass 
of the dunuhill is thus enlar<ied. there is little occasion to 



S02 - THE COMPLETE FARMER 

exceed the proportion of dung recommended for malving up 
to pre|)are in the milder season ; especially if a covering of 
coarse vegetables of any sort, such as waste hay or straw, 
rushes, broom, or furze, or brushwood of evergreens, is 
thrown over the dunghill. In fact, a covering of tliis sort is 
scarce less useful in summer to prevent the escape of mois- 
ture, than in winter to exclude cold. 

"To every twenty-eight cart-loads of the compost, when 
made up, it is of use to throw on above it a cart-load of 
ashes, either made from coal, peat, or wood; or if these can- 
not be had, half the quantity of slacked lime may be used, 
the more finely powdered the better. But these additions 
are in nowise essential to the general success of the com- 
post, provided a sufficiency of time. is allowed to the prepa- 
ration to compensate for the want of them. 

" Th3 dung to be used should either have been recently 
made, or kept fresh by compression; as by the treading of 
cattle or swine, or by carts passing over it. And if there is 
little or no litter in it, a smaller quantity will serve, pro- 
vided any spongy vegetable matter is added at making up the 
compost, as fresh weeds, the rubbish ofa stack-yard, potato- 
shaws, sawings of timber, Stc, And as some soits of 
dung, even when fresh, are much more advanced in decom- 
position than others, it is material to attend to (his; lor a 
much less proportion nf such dung, especially if abounding 
in animal matter, as is less advanced, will serve for the com- 
post, provided care is taken to keep the mass sufficiently 
open, eitlier by a inivture ofthe abnve-mentioned substances, 
or, if these are wanting, by adding the peat piecemeal, that 
is, first mixing it up in the usual proportion of three to one 
of dung, and then, alter a time, adding an equal quantity, 
more or less, of peat. The dung of this character of great- 
est quantity is shamble-dung, with which, under the above 
precautions, six times the quantity of peat, or more, may be 
prepared. The same holds as to pigeon-dung and other 
fowl-dung*, and to a certain extent, also, as to that which is 
collected from towns, and made by animals that feed ou 
grains, refuse of distilleries, &c. 

" The compost, after it is made up, gets into a general 
heat, sooner or later, according to the weather and the con- 
<lition of tlie dung; in summer, in ten days or sooner ; in 
winter, not perhaps for many weeks, if the cold is severe. 
It always, however, has been found to come on at last; and 
in summer, it sometimes rises so high as to be mischievous, 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 203 

by consuming the materials, (fire-fanging.) In that season 
a stick sliould bo kept in it in different parts, to pull out and 
feel now and then ; tor if it approaches to blood-heat, it 
should either be watered or turned over ; and on such an 
occasion, advantage may be taken to mix with it a little 
fresh peat. The heat subsides, after a time, and with great 
variety, according to the weather, the dung, and the perfec- 
tion of the making up of the compost; which then may be 
allowed to remain untouched, until within three or four 
weeks of using, when it should be turned over, upside down, 
and outside in, and all lumps broken: then it comes into a 
second heat, but soon cools, and is fit to be taken out for 
use. In this state the whole, e.vcept bits of the old decayed 
wood, appears a black free mass, and spreads like garden- 
mould. Use it, weight for weight, as farm-yard dung; and 
it will be found, in a course of cropping, fully to stand the 
comparison." 

Many other, articles are useful for manure, such as blood, 
offals of animals, hair, refuse feathers, woollen rags, hoofs 
and horns of cattle, sheep, &c. ; bones of all kinds, pound- 
ed, broken, or ground, at the rate of sixty bushels to the 
acre; raw skins; fish of all kinds; swamp mud, river mud, 
pond mud and sea mud, wood ashes, turfs, sea-weeds, moss 
mixed with dung in holes, — good for potatoes, — turf from 
highways, &Lc. ; shells of shell-fish; scrapings of streets and 
back yards ; rubbish of old houses, and earth which has 
long been under cover. Both of these collect and retain 
nitre. Old brine of salted meat or fish, which contains, be- 
sides salt, some blood, oil, &.c., in composts. Sea water, 
which contains other substances besides water and salt, 
which are fit for nourishing plants. Soap-suds, replete with 
a prepared food for plants; excellent for watering gardens 
in dry weather. None of this should ever be lost. If the 
garden be distant or wet, it may enrich the dung heap. 
Water in the hollows of farm-yards. Instead of suffering 
this liquor to soak into the earth, it should be taken up by 
straw litter, or some absorbent substance thrown into it, or 
carried out in a water-cart, and sprinkled over land which 
needs it, in the manner in which streets are watered in 
cities. 

In the " New England Farmer," (Vol. IX. p. 245,) was 
publishsd an article written by Hon. John Lowell, frd\n 
which the f)llowing is extracted: 

'• A few years since, the Hon William Ellis, of Dedham, 



204 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

recommended to me the use of the head and feet bones of 
oxen, as a highly valuable manure on meadow lands. He 
said he had observed, in passing, that I had grounds re- 
markably well adapted for this manure. I, however, neglect- 
ed this hint, though I constantly kept it in mind, until the 
last year, when, seeing an immense load of the heads of 
oxen passing by, I inquired of the owner for what purpose 
he was carting these materials, and he answered me to the 
following facts, viz. : that he came down a distance of eight 
miles with an empty team, and was carrying back a load, 
which cost him two dollars, to put on his meadow land. I 
found it was no new experiment with him, and that he came 
often for that purpose. 

" I made the experiment. Its success surpassed all his 
descriptions. The manure brought in new grasses. It en- 
couraged and invigorated the old. 

" I am aware it is only of limited application, but it is no 
trifling thing to render useful an article formerly thrown 
away. We know so little of the philosophy of manure, that 
I shall not speak positively on the subject. All I shall say 
is, that there is much animal matter still adhering to the 
bones, and animal matter has been found by experience to 
promote the growth of vegetables. 

"The mode of application is, to break them up with a 
sledge, or with the back of an axe, and then to press them 
below the surface by a rammer or beetle. The only point 
to which I offer my testimony is, that the effects are much 
greater than an eqtial qiianiily of horse and cow dung. This 
may be relied on." 



FENCES. The kinds of fence and manner of fencing, 
should vary, according to the ditTerence of soils and the 
kinds of materials for fencing. In new lands logs are and 
ought to be most used. When built of white pine, they will 
last about twenty years. Other sorts of wood, such as pitch- 
pine, hemlock, ash, oak, &.c., will endure for a considerable 
time if not placed too near the ground. If a fence be made 
partly of white pine and partly of other wood, the former 
should be laid nearest to the ground. If logs are peeled 
th'ey will last the longer in fences. 

It has been practised by some farmers to make posts for 
fences very durable by the following simple process. They 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 205 

bore a hole in that part of the post which, when set, will be 
just at the surface of the earth, with such a slope as will 
carry it downward an inch or two. They then fill the hole 
with salt, which will preserve the timber a long time from 
decay. 

In many parts of the country posts and rails will be found 
the cheapest materials for fence. In making fences of this 
description, it is advised by Mr. Preston, of Stockport, Penn- 
sylvania, to set the posts with the top parts in the ground; 
and he asserts that they will, in that position, last three or 
four times as long as when they are set with the butt ends 
down. He advises, also, in making fences, always to place 
the rails with the heart side up. 

The best timber for rails, according to Dr. Deane, is red 
cedar. It is easy to split, light to carry and handle, suffi- 
ciently strong, and the most durable of any. In the Trans- 
actions of the Society of Arts, in England, there is an ac- 
count which states, in substance, that posts of oak, and oth- 
ers of chestnut, were set down in Somersetshire, where they 
had to undergo repairs in eighteen years. The oak posts 
were then found to be unserviceable, and the chestnut very 
little worn. The oak posts were renewed, the chesnut re- 
mained, and in twenty-five years afterwards they were not 
so much rotted as the oak. 

If the lower ends of posts are scorched in a hot flame be- 
fore they are put into the ground, they will last the longer. 
Some recommend soaking tliem in sea-water to keep them 
from rotting. The posts should be set at least two feet in 
the ground. .Some farmers cut their posts so long, and mor- 
tise them in such a manner, that they can turn tiiem upside 
down, when the lower ends become rotten. 

It is said in the Barnstable Journal, that " Deacon Wins- 
low Martin has on his farm a kind of fence, which for dura- 
bility and beauty can hardly be exceeded. On each side of 
the road adjacent his dwelling, are rows of large button- 
wood trees, set ten or twelve feet asunder. Into these, when 
young, cedar rails were inserted, as into common posts. As 
the trees increased in size, the wood formed closely around 
the ends of the rails, and firmly secured them in their 
places. It is certainly a durable and cheap fence, because 
it will require no repairs at least for one generation, and is 
moreover constantly increasing in value. Were our roads 
lined with this kind of fence, it would add not a little to the 
beauty of the country and the comfort of the traveller." 
18 



206 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

The "Fanner's Guide" observes, that "post and rail fences 
and board fences are very good where the soil is dry. In a 
wet soil, the posts will be moved by frost. Red cedar, locust, 
and chestnut, are best. Butternut, black walnut, and oak, 
are pretty good, lasting about fifteen years. For the rails, 
cedar is best, lasting perhaps an age. If timber is scarce, 
and the ground is level and free from stones, post and rail 
fences, set in a bank of the eartli of two small ditches, 
thrown up together, ought to be preferred. If the posts are 
too small to have holes made through them, the rails may be 
flattened at the ends, and fastened to the posts with spikes, 
or with wooden pins well secured." 

When ground is wholly subdued, and the stumps of ils 
original trees quite rotted out, stone walls, proi)erly made, 
are the best and cheapest fences. On hard, sandy, or gravel- 
ly soil, a wall will stand many years without repairing. On 
a clay or miry soil, the foundation should be laid in a trench, 
nearly as low as the earth freezes. But a wall of flat or 
square shaped stones will stand pretty well on any soil on 
the surface. 

A writer for the " Genesee Farmer " gives the following 
directions for " Planting Posts for (iarden Fences, &c." 

" Instead of filling the holes up with the earth taken out 
in digging them, I would recommend filling in around the 
posts leached ashes instead of common earth, and topping 
off with five or six inches of unleached ashes above the sur- 
face of the ground; for it is generally between uniid and 
water, as the sailors term it, that garden posts begin to de- 
cay. My reason for recommending ashes is, that I have fre- 
quently found pieces of board, hoops, and staves, buried 
under heaps of leached ashes, which had lain there many 
years, and were quite as sound as when first buried. No 
doubt many of your readers have noticed the same, in re- 
moving old ash-heaps near potash works." 



HEDGES. In some soils, situations, and circumstances, 
hedge fences will be found most advisable and economical. 
The following remarks on this subject, by the Hon. John 
Lowell, were published in the " New England Farmer," 
Vol. X. p. 339. 

" It is not my intention to recommend live hedges for this 
rocky part of the United States. Our own stones furnish 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. ^07 

the best divisions we could ask for or desire; and on most 
farms tlie removal of them from the soil would be economi- 
cal, and the plaiitig them as partitions for fields is the cheap- 
est and most natural mode of disposing of them. Still, in 
New England, there are extensive tracts of country of allu- 
vial or diluvial soil, in which no rocks are found, and in 
which a stone wall could not he obtained without great ex- 
pense. Such is the state of the greater part of the old col- 
ony below Plymouth, and of some parts of the county of 
Middlesex. But wherever wood fences are required it may 
be useful to substitute live hedges. 

" The Virginia thorn, is in most cases utterly useless as a 
fence. This is chiefly owing to the ravages of a worm at 
its root; whether it be the same which attacks the apple and 
the quince, is a point not settled. The same objection is 
applicable to the English hawthorn. And to this/«/o/ one is 
supf>radded another, the appearance of a fungus of a yellow 
color on the leaves, which utterly disfigures them and strips 
them of their foliage in September. The i^ledilschia Irincan- 
tkos is not suited for hedges with us. If left to grow they 
soon grow out of all nacli, if checked ihey are winter-killed. 
We are indehted wholly and entirely to the experiments of 
Ezekiel Hersy i)erl)y, Esq. for the possession of a plant, 
tiie buckthorn, {rhamnus calluirliciii,) which, from ten years' 
trial, seems to afford every desirable quality for a healtliy, 
beautiful, and effectual hedge. 

"I have tried this plant for six years. It is hardy and 
rapid in its growth, of impenetrable thickness, and so far as 
that extent of experiment enaltles me to judge, not s\ibject 
to any disease, or the visitation of any insect whatever. 
As it is very provoking as well as expensive to cultivators to 
be led astray, and to find after five or ten years that they 
have been deceived, they would do well to examine growing 
hedges of the buckthorn." 

The following is extracted tVom a notice of Mr. Derby of 
the cultivation and uses of the buckthorn. The tree from 
which my plants were raised, formerly stood in the garden of 
the venerahle Dr. Holyoke, who used the berries for medici- 
nal purposes, and was as large as any of our common apple- 
trees. He was induced at last to cut it down, as it shaded 
so much of his garden. I was so pleased with the healthy 
and clean appt^arance of the tree, and the next spring ob- 
serving several young plants, raised from seed dropped in 



208 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

the autumn, that I was induced to transplant them to a nur- 
sery, where they grew with great rapidity. 

" After trying several kinds of trees for the purpose of 
making a hedge, without much success, I was induced to try 
this, which has afforded a most beautiful fence, so much so 
as to attract the attention of every person who has seen it. 
It divides my garden, is about three hundred feet in length, 
the |)lants set nearly a ((jot apart, is five feet high, and two 
feet wide at top, which is cut nearly level. It shoots early 
in the spring, makes a handsome appearance, and continues 
its verdure till very late in the fall. It has not so much 
spine as either the English or American hawthorn, but I 
think sufficient to protect it from cattle. The plant bears 
the knife or shears remarkably, and makes as close and tight 
a fence as either of the others, and is not subject to blight, 
as both of them have been with me. The tree furnishes a 
large quantity of seed, which rapidly vegetates ; and I 
make no doubt it can be propagated by cuttings." 

We are apprehensive that no species of thorn can be cul- 
tivated to advantage in New England for the purpose of 
making hedges, on account principally of the insects which 
in this part of the country infest that plant. Some, however, 
prefer the American thorn, [cralctgus cordala.) A valuable 
communication relative to the use of this and other plants 
for live fences, by B. S., M. D., may be found in the "New 
England Farmer," Vol. IX. p. 209. 

Upon consulting Mr. Lowell, as to any changes it would 
be proi)er to make on the article of hedges, he states, that 
he ^till gives tlie preference to the buckthorn, but that the 
Newcastle thorn, grown by John Prince, Esq., is more 
beautiful, and it bids fair to be as enduring and as free from 
disease. The rapidity of growth of the buckthorn is, in his 
judgment, a full equivalent for the beauty of the other. 



SHEEP. There are a great many varieties of sheep, with 
differences more or less marked. 'J^o give even an abridged 
account of all the kinds described in foreign publications, 
would require a large volume. In England, the princi|)al 
division of sheep is into the lomg wool and the short wool 
kinds. Among those bearing long wool, are the Leicester, 
Devonshire JVots, Exinoor, Heath, the Bahewell or Dishley 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 209 

breeds, &c. Slc. The origin of the last-mentioned breed of 
sheep is thus described by an English writer: 

" Mr. Bakewell selected from his own flock, and from the 
flocks of others, those sheep to breed from, which possessed 
in the greatest degree that perfection of form he was de- 
sirous to retain and perpetuate. By judiciously crossing 
them, and selecting the most perfect of their progeny, he at 
length succeeded in fjrming the breed, which has been dis- 
tinguished by the name of the New Leicester, or Dishley 
breed; and having attained his object, he carefully guarded 
against any future intermixtures with other breeds. This 
breed exceeds all others in its propensity to fatten ; and 
by crossing by rams with this breed, a considerable portion 
of the long-wooled sheep in England have been greatly 
improved in this respect. 

" The Dishley breed are distinguished from other long- 
woolt'd breeds l)y their fine lively eyes, clean heads, straight, 
broad, flat backs, round (barrel-like) bodies, very fine small 
bones, thin pelts, and inclination to fat at an early age. The 
last property is probably owing to the before-specified quali- 
ties, which, from observation and experience, there is reason 
to believe extend generally through every species of domes- 
tic quadrupeds. The Dishley breed is not only peculiar for 
the mutton being fat, but also for the fineness of the grain; 
the flavor is superior to the mutton of most other lons-wool- 
ed breeds. The weight of the carcass may be stated in 
general : ewes three or four years old, from eighteen to 
twenty-six pounds |)er quarter; wethers two years old, from 
twenty to thirty pounds." 

Among the shovl-woohd sheep, the English possess, be- 
sides the Merino breed. South Down';, the Ryelaud, the 
Shropsliire, the Shetland, the Dorset, Wilts, &c. Jtc. Merino 
sheep were first introduced into Great Britain in the year 
1787; and although it was formerly a general opinion, that 
the excellence of their fleece depended in a great degree 
upon the temperature of the Spanish climate, it has been 
ascertained that tiie fineness of the Spanish wool is not im- 
paired by breeding the sheep in England, France, Saxony, 
Hungary, &c. 

It is important in the management of sheep to keep the 
store sheep in as equal condition as possible, but not too fat, 
all the year round. In the grass season they should be kept 
in dry pastures, in which the grass is short and sweet. Dur- 
ing the winter they should have a steady and measured al- 
18* 



210 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

lowance of suitable food, and not sometimes be fed profuse- 
ly, and at other times scantily. 

Mortimer says, "The farmer should always buy his sheep 
from a worse land than his own, and Ihey should be big 
boned, and have a long greasy wool. For the choice of 
sheep to breed, the ram must be young, and bis skin of the 
same color with his wool; for the lambs will be of the same 
color with his skin. Those ewes which have no horns are 
found to be the best breeders." 

The farmers of Europe know how to distinguish the age 
of sheep by their teeth. When a sheep is one shear, as they 
e.xpress it, that is, has been sheared but once, or is in it3 
second year, it has two broad teeth before; when it is two 
shear, it will have four; when tliree, six; when four shear, 
or in its fifth year, it will have eight teeth before. After 
this, their mouths begin to break. 

" The fat pastures breed straight, tall sheep, and the bar- 
ren hills square and short ones. But the best sheep of all, 
are those bred upon new ploughed land, the reason of which 
may be easily guessed, as such land is commonly the most 
free from bad grasses. AH wet and moist lands are bad for 
sheep, especially such are subject to be overflowed, and to 
have sand and dirt left on them. The salt marshes are an 
exception from this general rule ; for their saltness makes 
amends for their moisture; any thing salt, by reason of its 
drying qualities, being of great advantage to sheep. The 
best time for sheep to yean, which go twenty weeks with 
lamb, is in April, unless the owner has any forward grass, 
or turnips. Ewes that are big should be kept but bare ; for 
it is dangerous for them to be fat at the time of their bring- 
ing forth their young. They may be well fed, indeed, like 
cows, a fortnight beforehand, to put them in heart." 

M. BufTon says, " One ram will be sufficient for twenty- 
five or thirty ewes; but that he should be remarkable for 
strength and comeliness; that those which have no horns 
are very indifferent; that the head of a ram should be large 
and thick, the forehead broad, the eyes large and black, the 
nose short, the neck thick, the body long, the back and 
rump broad, the testicles large, and the tail long; that the 
best are white, with a large quantity of wool on the belly, 
tail, head and ears, down to the eyes; that the best sheep 
for propagation are those which have most wool, and that 
close, long, silky and white; especially if at the same time 
they have a large body, a thick neck, and are light-footed." 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 211 

He says, " That ewes fatten very fast during their pregnan- 
cy ; that as they often liurt themselves, and frequently mis- 
carry, so they sometimes become barren; and tiiat it is not 
very extraordinary for them to bring forth monstrous pro- 
ductions. But when properly tended, they are capable of 
yeaning during the whole of their life, or to the age of ten 
or twelve years. But most commonly when they come to 
be seven or eight year old, they begin to break, and become 
sickly ; and that a ram is no longer fit for propagation after 
eight years, at which time he should be fattened with the 
old sheep." 

According to the same writer, " Sheep should in the sum- 
mer be turned out early in the morning to feed; and in four 
or five hours, after watering, be brought back to the fold, or 
to some shady place. At four o'clock, in the afternoon, 
they should be turned to their pasture again, and continue 
there till evening; and were it not for the danger of wolves, 
they should pass the night in the open air, which would 
render them more vigorous, cle.an, and healthy. As the too 
great heat of the sun is hurtful to them, shady pastures are 
best tor them; or else to drive them to a place with a west- 
ern descent in the morning, and the contrary towards even- 
ing." That their wool may be saved, they should not be 
pastured in bushy places, or where there are briars. Sheep 
are often thus deprived of mo.st of their fleeces; which, be- 
sides the los.s of the wool, is very hurtful to the animals, 
when the weather is not warm. 

The above writer directs, " That every year a flock of 
sheep should be examined, in order to find out such as begin 
to grow old, and ought to be turned ofi' for fattening. As 
they require a particular management, so they should be put 
in a flock by themselves. They should feed while the grass 
is moistened with dew in the morning. Salt should be given 
them to excite thirst, as the more they drink the faster they 
will grow fat.* But to complete their fattening, and make 
their flesh firm and solid, they should have some corn or 
grain given them." They may be fattened in the winter ; 
but it is commonly too expensive, as they will require a good 
deal of richer food than hay. When sheep are once be- 
come fat, they should be killed; for it is said they cannot be 
made fat a second time. The teeth of ewes begin to decay 

* It lias been found, however, that salt given in excess is injurious to 
elieep. 



212 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

at five, those of wethers at seven, and those of rams not 
until eight. 

Ewes, Lambs, Sfc. It is recommended to give ewes with 
lamb a somewhat more than ordinary quantity of food for 
a month or six weeks before they are expected to yean; 
not enough, however, to make them fat, as dangerous con- 
sequences miglit attend their being in very high condition at 
that period. Turnips are said to be injurious to ewes with 
lamb, but may be well given them after they have yeaned. 
If your sheep, whether store sheep or ewes with Iamb, have 
good hay, about a quart of potatoes a day to each will, it is 
said, be very beneficial, and an ample allowance. But when 
the object is to fat them, according to a writer in Rees' Cy- 
clopedia, about a gallon of potatoes a day, with a little hay, 
will be the proper quantity; but this is dependent, in part, 
on the size of the aninmls, and in part on the quality and 
quantity of the hay which is allowed to them. Potatoes, 
besides their use as food for sheep, are said to be very ser- 
viceable as an article of diet, which usually supersedes the 
necessity of medicine. They have, when given raw, an 
opening or purgative quality, which is thought to be of use, 
and answer a similar purpose with sheep which is effected 
with swine by brimstone and antimony. Potatoes, baked, 
steamed, or boiled, will furnish more nutriment than those 
which are raw. 

Care should be taken to place in the stable small tubs or 
troughs of water for the sheep to drink in. They will do 
very well in summer without water, as they feed when the 
dew is on, but they need water in winter, especially if fed 
mostly on dry food. " VViien sheep have colds, and dis- 
charge mucus from the nose, good feeding, together with 
pine boughs, given occasionally, will cure them; or tar, 
spread over a board, over which a little fine salt is strewed, 
will induce the sheep to lick up tar, and this will cure a 
cold."* Half a gill of Indian corn a day, given to each 
sheep during winter, is recommended as keeping them in 
good heart, preventing the wool from falling off', and enab- 
ling the ewes to rear their young better than they would if 
fed altogether on food of a less substantial nature. 

" When several kinds of food can be procured, it is right 
to give them alternately to the sheep at different meals, in 



* Dearie's New Eiiijland Farmer. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 213 

the course of the same day; the qualities of one kind aid or 
compensate those of another. At certain hours of the day, 
dry fodder should be given, and, at others, roots or grain. 
If there he any danger tiiat the roots may decay, the winter 
should be begun with them, mixing, however, som« dry food 
with them, for alone they would not be sufficiently nutri- 
tious. "* 

Writers do not agree on the quantity of food which a 
given number of sheep will consume to advantage in a given 
time. Probably, it would be very difficult to lay down any 
rules on the subject which would not be subject to very 
nearly as many exceptions as coincidences. Some seasons 
would require more food than others for the same sheep ; 
the same number of sheep of different sizes, ages, sexes, 
and breeds, would also consume different quantities of food 
of the same quality. When we add to these causes of er- 
ror the cousideiation that food of the same kind is often very 
different in quality, — one ton of clover hay, for example, 
mowed at the right period of its growth, and well made and 
housed, may be worth two tons of the same sort of hay 
grown and made under different circumstances, — nothing, 
therefore, can be hoped f )r in this inquiry, except some ap- 
proximation to truth. VVe may, however, perhaps provide 
ourselves with materials for the exercise of those qualities 
for o^uessinp;, for which New England people are celebrated. 
When a man is laying in fodder for his sheep or neat cattle, 
it may be of great consequence to be able to form a con- 
jecture approximating the truth, relative to the quantity and 
quality of provisions lor that purpose which it may be 
expedient to accumulate. 

Mr. Lawrence says, " Sheep will eat, on an average, 
twenty pounds of turnips each in twenty-four hours. An 
acre of good turnips in the field, between November and 
March, will keep one hundred sheep six weeks. One gallon 
of raw potatoes will suffice a sheep twenty-four hours, but 
some will eat much more. Fourteen hundred sheep will eat 
up and spoil an acre of good turnips in a night. Of the 
quantities of hay and corn [grain] which a sheep will con- 
sume daily, I do not recollect any accurate experiments. To 
feed liberally one hundred sheep with this precious article 
throughout the winter season, ten tons at least would be re- 
quired; although I have lately been informed by a great 

* Tessier's Treatise on Sheep. 



214 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

sheep-master, that he allows but that quantity to a flock of 
one thousand; his turnips being excellent, with plenty of 
grazing ground. 

" As to corn [grain], a large sheepwill eat several pints or 
pounds per day; and the comparison of quantity of food be- 
tween the sheep and the ox may be generally stated at one- 
eighth or one-ninth part for the sheep." 

" One thing (says M. Tessier) cannot be too riiuch recom- 
mended, which is, to place the hay in the racks while the 
sheep are out of the house; by this precaution, the dust 
will not fall upon the fleeces." Dr. Deane observed, that 
the rack in which the hay is put should be upright, so that 
in ieeding, the seeds, chafl", Slc. should not fall into the wool 
about their necks. Under the rack should be a trough for 
catching the seeds of the hay and feeding the sheep. 

With regard to giving salt to sheep, writers have disa- 
greed. It is believed to be better not to give them any than 
to allow them too great a quantity. M. Tessier says, 
" Sheep have been known to be attacked by long and 
troublesome looseness, in consequence of having taken too 
much salt; which has induced the belief that sea-water is 
poisonous to them; and that his sheep have always been 
healthy, though he had never given them any salt. But he 
states that it may be indispensably necessary in wet coun- 
tries. And Dr. Coo|)er, editor of the last edition of the 
Domestic Encyclopedia, reconnnends one-fourth of an ounce 
a day as a proper quantily for sheep. Mr. Grove likewise 
says, " Salt is required by sheep at intervals during the 
whole year, but it is often given in too great quantify, and 
almost forced upon the sheep; which is often injurious, and 
often injures the digestion so that the best grain will pass 
through them unaltered." 

The same writer says, "In the season for dropping lambs, 
the utmost care is necessary. The birth is most commonly 
easy, but often slow. Ignorant shepherds are very apt on 
such occasions to be aiding in the birth, which is always 
useless and often very injurious." 

" If often happens," says Mr. Grove, " that ewes will not 
own their lambs, particularly the first they bear; and in this 
case I would advise to the sprinkling a little salt on the lamb, 
which induces the ewe to lick it, after which she will gene- 
rally allow it to suck. If not, the ewe with her lamb should 
be placed in a separate inclosure (of which several should 
be previously prepared) and fed with the most nutritious fod- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 2I5 

der, particularly with nourishing liquids, that the udder may 
be uncoinfartably distended; and if this he not sufficient, slie 
must he tied by the legs till tl)e lamb has been once suckled; 
alter which there will be no further ditliculty." 

Sir John Sinclair observed, that " there is no food of 
which sheep are fonder than pea-straw; and where circum- 
stances are favorable for that crop, peas ought to be cul- 
tivated more for the straw, from the advantages that would 
thence be derived by the sheep-farmer." Mr. Young also 
observes, that " the straw of early white peas, applied to 
sheep, is the most valuable return made by straw." 

A writer for " The New England Farmer," (Vol. IV. p. 
234,) with the signature M. 11. C, gives the following judi- 
cious remarks on sheep. 

" Perhaps there is no domestic animal that requires more 
nice and constant attention than the sheep, and no other that 
will more richly pay for genercjus keeping. Though he may 
not be more liable to di-^ease, nor require a better quality of 
food than neat stock, still that management which will keep 
cattle in good- case will not answer for sheep. His habits 
and mode of feeding are entirely dilferent. For instance, in 
the winter season a cow may be kept tied to the stall twenty- 
two hours out of the twenty-f)ur, and, if well fed three times 
a day, keep her flesh and get sufficient exercise Por her 
health. Serve a sheep in the same manner and it would not 
probably live a month. It is natural for sheep to move about 
and change situation. Turn a flock of hungry sheep into a 
pasture, they will run to the end of it before they begin to 
cat; feed them in troughs, they will run over all till they 
come to the last, when they have it in their power. They 
are almost continually shilling situation from hill to dale, 
from one kind of food to another; and it is a fact that sheep 
will thrive better on two or three different kinds of ordinary 
fodder, than they will to be confined to one kind that is of a 
superior quality. 

" The proper time to yard sheep in the fall is while they 
are yet in good order from fresh feed, and before the frost 
takes the nourishing qualities from the grass : but a time in 
which many sheep are not folded, they are left to nibble 
over the frozen pastures till tiiey lose the flesh of half a 
summer's keeping, and which takes half a winter to regain. 
It is a great error which is persisted in with an idea to save 
fodder. But setting aside the injury done pastures by close 
feeding at this season of the year, the sheep which stray 



216 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

away and are lost, and the time spent in hunting them, which 
are not idle considerations, the farmer would more than get 
repaid for his extra fodder, and a few weeks' attention in 
yarding his sheep sooner, by preserving their heahh and 
condition. When they are put to winter-quarters, they re- 
quire as much variety as possible, not that they want so 
much room, but they need a number of different apartments 
Two yards and one shed will do very well for one flock', or, 
what will answer the same purpose, if a large number of 
sheep are to be kept near each other, have the yards in 
a row, and one more yard than flocks of sheep. Then by 
shifting one flock to the spare yard it leaves another vacant, 
and so on. Thus may all be changed, which should be 
done at every time of feeding. As fast as the yards are 
empty, the food should be put in them, and never while the 
sheep are there. One hundred sheep are enough to be kept 
together. Cleanliness is of the utmost importance. Their 
yards should be littered with straw or something of the kind 
constantly, or they will be in danger of losing in a degree a 
relish for their food. 

" The next thing necessary is, to have proper places for 
your sheep to eat hay in, which are the common board man- 
gers, and may make partings to the yards. Take six joists, 
say three inches square, and four feet long; have the boards 
of a length, then nail two of them to the joists set up per- 
pendicularly in such a manner that one joist will be in the 
middle of each board, and the other two at the ends, and 
that the top edge of the boards will be one foot from the 
ground; then nail short boards on the ends two feet and a 
half long, the width of the manger, the next board on the 
sides to be placed eight inches from the lower boards, then 
board it tight to the top of the joists, and the manger is 
finished. A manger eighteen feet long, of this description, 
will accommodate thirty sheep. Single mangers may be 
made along the outside fence of the yard, which do not re- 
quire to be so wide. The great superiority of these man- 
gers over racks is, first, the facility of putting hay into them 
without dropping it on the ground, secondly, it obviates the 
danger of hay-seed falling on the wool of the sheep ; and 
thirdly, it prevents any waste of fodder. The next thing 
after mangers for hay, should be a place appropriated for 
feeding out roots, which every farmer should raise to a cer- 
tain extent. Although we cannot turn them to so good an 
account as the English feeders do, on account of the severi- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 2 IT 

ty of our winters, still a proportion of them as food for our 
stock is of great importance. In order that the farmer may 
make the most of his roots, he should have a cellar fixed to 
receive them in the fall, without too much labor, and ac- 
cessible at any lime in the winter, without endangering them 
by frost. The cellar should be placed as near the yard a9 
practicable, with a watering-place at hand. A good way of 
washing roots is, to have an oblong box that will hold two 
or three bushels, with the bottom perforated with auger 
holes, and rockers placed on the under side of the box; tlien 
by pouring in a little water and rocking them, the dirt will 
directly wash through the bottom of the box. They should 
then be cut fine with a sharp shovel, and they are fit for 
feeding out. Browse in the winter occasionally for sheep is 
very palatable, and is of considerable use in preserving their 
appetite, and as a change of food, but care should be taken 
to select the right kind. There are many kinds of hard 
M'ood, of which the bark and buds are very injurious.* The 
bark of the black cherry eaten by ewes with lamb is almost 
sure to produce abortion. Generally winter green is to be 
preferred to any other browse. White and yellow pine are 
best. 

" Regularity in feeding sheep is of prime consequence in 
cold dry weather. It is not necessary to feed them oftener 
than three times a day, if discretion is used in the quantity 
of fodder. In warm weathcu-, and especially if it is muddy, 
they should have little at a time, and be fed four or five 
times a day. Daubenton and others calculate that two 
pounds of hay are sufficient for the support of one sheep a 
day, (which, by the way, in our climate is not enough.) 
Calculations of this kind, if made with the utmost accuracy 
on one, or any number of sheep at one time, will not ap- 
ply to the same sheep at another; because so much depend* 
on circumstances. A sheep that will eat three pounds of 
bay in a cold day will not, perhaps, eat more than two in a 
warm day following; and still less in a damp one. Not that 
they require so much more food in cold weather than in 
warm, but that sudden changes affect their appetites and 
without injuring their health. Again, a sheep of proper 
form and inclination to fatten, will not need so much nutri- 
ment to preserve its flesh as one of the same weight of a 

* The wood disease, .so much complained of in France, is wholly owing to 
sheep's eating fresh inids. 
19 



^18 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

coarse, rawboned, uneasy make. Aftd one kind of hay may 
have double the substantial quulilies of aiiuther. Thereibie 
no ceitaiii rule can be cjiven as to the quantity necessary for 
their support; though experiments of tnis kind are not with- 
out their use, for, ad ren)arked in one of the " Nevv JEngland 
Farmers," they aiford " a line opportunity of guessing at the 
proper quantity necessary to keep a stock a given time." 

" There exists a great diversity of opinion in regard to the 
proper time of year for lambs to conje. A New i^ork wri- 
ter thinks that rams should not be taken from the ewes at 
all; that lambs should come early in the winter, which is 
the natural time. This 1 think erroneous; the natural time 
is the most convenient time, and tlie proprietor should be 
governed wholly by his means. There are advantages ia 
having lambs come early, and disadvantages, and vice versa 
the same in having them come late, li' a man has con- 
veniences f)r guarding against cold, and plenty of succulent 
food for his ewes, February and March is decidedly the 
best time for tliem to come. It is true that they require 
more attention at this season than in warm weather, hut time 
is not worth so much, and the lambs learn to eat hay before 
they are turned to pasture, consequently they do much bet- 
ter the following winter. They get out of the way of foxes, 
and are able to take care of themselves at washing and 
shearing time, which is of considerable consequence. Ou 
the contrary, if the farmer is deticient in proper food and 
other conveniences for his sheep, and has a pasture near, that 
he can look to his flack, it may often be advisable to have 
his lambs come in April or May. 

"When sheep are turned to pasture in the spring, the tran- 
sition from dry food to grass causes a relax, which spoils, or 
very much inpires a great part of the wool on their buttocks 
and thighs, and makes double the work at the time of wash- 
ing; therefore, belbre they are turned to pasture the wool in 
the way should be carefully shorn orf, which is very little 
trouble, and makes a saving worth noticing. 

" In selecting a flock of sheep, the first care undoubtedly 
shf)uld be, to get those of the evenest and finest wool ; the 
next, tho.^e of the best form and m>st peaceable disposition; 
and the next care, which is very little thought of, to get those 
that are without horns. Any one who has had the manage- 
inent of sheep in the winter, can testify to the injury which 
large-horned sheep do in crowding after fodder and running 
through gates, &c. Horned rams kept with pregnant ewes 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. O^g 

do great mischief. In many parts of Spain they amputate 
the horns of their rams, tor which there are various proces- 
ses: some nse a large chisel; others a saw, which is tlie 
most expeditious way, and is preferable. There are otiier 
serious objections to tlie keeping of horned sheep, which I 
cannot better exemphty than by quoting tlie fullowing Words 
from Henry Cline, an eminent surgeon. 

" ' Horns are useless in domestic animals. It is not diffi- 
cult to breed animals without them. The breeders of horn- 
ed cattle and horned sheep sustain a loss more extensive 
than tiiey may conceive; for it is not the horn alone, but also 
much more bone in the skulls of such animals, to support 
their horns; besides, there is an additional quantity of liga- 
ment and bone in the neck, which is of small value. The 
skull of a ram with its horns weighed five times more than 
annther skull which was hornless. Both these skulls were 
taken from sheep of the same age, each being four years old. 
The great dilTerence in weight depended cliielly on the horns, 
for the lower jaws were nearly equal, one weighing seven 
ounces and the other six ounces and three-quarters; which 
proves that the natural size of the head wa-; nearly the same 
in both, independent of the horns and the thickness of the 
bone which supports them. In a horned animal the skull is 
extremely thick, in a hornless animal it is much thuuier, 
especially in tiiat part where tiie h -rns usually grow.' 

" To those wh ) have not reflected on the subject, it may 
apiKjar of little consequence whether sheej) or cattle have 
horns; but, on a very moderate calculation, it will be found 
that the loss in farming stock, and also in the diminution of 
animal food, is very considerable from the production of 
horns and their appendages. A njode of breeding which 
would prevent the production of these, would afford a con- 
siderable profit in an increase of meat and wool and other 
valuable parts." 

Shearins; Sheep, 4*<^. Deane's " New England Farmer " 
states, that " we shear our sheep in general too early in this 
country. In England, where the spring is more forward 
than in this country, the approved time of shearing is from 
the middle to the latter end of Juno. They should be wash- 
ed in a warm time; after this they should run three or four 
days in a clean pasture, before they are shorn. It is good 
for them to have time to sweat a little in their wool, after 
washing." 

Mr. Lawrence says, " June seems [in England] to be the 



220 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

general shearing month, and where no extraordinary precau- 
tions are taken, the business had better be delayed till to- 
wards midsummer, more especially in cold, backward springs; 
because in such seasons we seldom until that period have 
any settled lair weather. Besides, a more perfect fleece is 
obtained, and fuller of yolk from the perspiration of the ani- 
mal. 

" Washing previous to clipping the sheep is the general 
custom, with lew exceptions, in this country; indeed it is 
proper with all long-wooled sheep, but not so easily practi- 
cable with the matted, greasy, and impenetrable fleeces of 
the Spanish and carding-wool breed, which in Spain they 
invariably shear dry, as has been the jnactice in Devonshire, 
with the short-wooled sheep, for centuries." 

It is observed by Loudon, that " sheep-shearing, in Rom- 
ney Marsh [England], commences about midsummer and 
finishes about the middle of July. I'hose who shear latest 
ajjprehend that they gain half a pound weight in every fleece, 
by the increased perspiration of the sheep and consequent 
growth of the wool. Besides, tliey sny, in early shearing the 
wool has not the condition which it afterwards acquires. 
But then in late sliearing the fleece will have the less time 
to grow, so as to protect the animal against the rigors of the 
succeeding winter; and if a year's interval is allowed be- 
tween each clipping time, after your routine is established 
the wool will have had the same period lor its growth, 
whether you shear eai ly or late. Sheep with fine fleeces, 
which are shorn without being washed on the back of the 
animal, may be clipped earlier in the season than those 
which are exposed to suffer for half an hour or more in cold 
water." 

Lemuel VV. Briggs, Esq., of Bristol, Rhode Island, in 
articles published in the "Tsew England Farmer," (Vol. III. 
pages 273, 287,) stated certain facts, which would seem 
favorable to early shearing; and in certain circumstances, 
and particularly with sheep which are not washed, there can 
be no doubt but the practice is beneficial. INJr. Briggs stated, 
in substance, that Mr. Rouse Potter, of Prudence island, 
Narraganset bay, Rhode Island, who kept nine hundred and 
fifty sheep, and lost but two the preceding winter, begins to 
sliear them by the 1st of May, if the weather is favorable, 
and continues dail}^ until he completes his shearing. For 
the first week, he puts those sheared under cover or in close 
yards every night; by that time the wool will grow so as to 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST, 221 

give them a sufficient covering. By this practice of early 
shearing he gains much wool, which formerly, when he put 
his shearing olF till the middle of June, the sheep would 
shed; and farther, when thus early sheared, the wool l)egiu3 
to start and grow much quicker than when shearing is deter- 
red to the usual time. He says, that foimerly, being expos- 
ed immediately after shearing to the rays of the sun, their 
bare backs would frequently become sore and scabby, when 
HO wool will grow till healed, and then what does grow from 
these scars is thinner and coarser than the rest. 

" Mr. Potter states, that he has found from actual experi- 
ment, that he not only gets more wool, which would other- 
wise be lost, hut the succeeding wool will be from half an 
inch to an inch longer, if sheared early, than it will be if 
delayed to the usual time of shearing. And farther, there is 
not the same necc-.ssity for washing the sheep, as the wool is 
much cleaner, more free from sand and dirt, when taken off 
early, than it would be if suffered to remain on their backs 
until a hot sun had compelled them to seek refuge under 
walls and fences." 

The loregoing authorities are apparently altogether con- 
tradictory, as respects the time of year in which to shear 
sheep. But it is to be observed, that Mr. Potter did not 
wash his sheep before shearing, which must make considera- 
ble difference with regard to the risk from cold; and Mr. 
Potter appears to have been careful to shelter his sheep 
after shearing, wliich must in a great measure obviate the 
disadvantages of early shearing. 

Mr. Lawrence, an eminent English writer, asserts, " It 
has frequently appeared to me, on reflection, that it might 
be preferable to shear all kinds of sheep unwashed, and to 
wash then, after shearing, when it would be much more ef- 
fectual with respect to their health. Such as were affected 
with foulness or eruption of the skin might be washed and 
scrubbed in a lye of water and wood ashes, in a large tub 
which would contain three. It would both conduce to the 
health of the sheep and promote the regular growth of the 
wool. Wool would probably keep best in the grease, and 
dust might be shaken from it. Any difficulty in respect to 
fixing the price of wool in an unwashed state would vanish 
in a season or two." 

" Clipping off the coarse soiled wool about the thighs and 
docks," says Loudon, "some weeks before the usual time 
of washing and clipping the sheep, is an excellent practice, as 
19* 



222 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

by this means the shoep are kept clears and cool when the 
season is hot; and with ewes, the udders are prevented from 
becoming sore." 

In separating for the purpose of washing, the flock is 
brought to the side of the washing-poo), and those htmbs 
and sheep of different kinds fit to be washed are put into 
separate inclosures; and such iambs as are too young to be 
clipped are not washed, but confined in a fold or inclosure ot 
any kind, at such a distance from the washing-place that 
they may not disturb their mothers by bleating. 

In performing the operation of washing, it was formerly 
the method to have the washers standing up to their breast 
in the water; but from the inconvenience and danger of it, 
various other modes of performing the operation have been 
proposed. Among others, that of sinking an empty hogs- 
licad or other vessel of sufficient capacity f)r a man to 
stand in while washing the sheep, may be as eligible as any. 
A boat near a bold shore f)f a sheet of water, with one end 
aground, by which the sheep is introduced and put over- 
board, while the man who washes him remains in the boat, 
and extends his arms over the sides, and thus performs the 
necessary manipulations, furnishes a convenient mode of 
washing sheep. A small perpendicular waterfall, under 
which sheep are conducted, may likewise be used to ad- 
vantage for that purpose. 

It was uniformly the practice, immediately after shearing, 
to smear the bodies of sheep with some ointment, in which 
tar is the chief ingredient. This, however, has been con- 
demned, as causing a waste of wool in carding and manu- 
fac;uiing into cloth. But if the tar is mixed with a sufficient 
quantity of some greasy substance, the benefit may be ob- 
tained, (which is to preserve against ticks and the scab, as 
well as to increase the growth of the wool,) without any bad 
consequence resulting. A writer in " Rees' Cyclopedia," 
on wool, says much in favor of a composition greatly used in 
Northumberland, England, and gives the following directions 
for making it: "From sixteen to twenty pounds of butter 
are placed over a gentle fire and melted; a gallon of tar is 
then added, and the mixture is then stirred witli a stick until 
the tar and butter are well combined, and form a soft, 
tenacious ointment." Some skill is required in its applica- 
tion. The locks should be divided, and the ointment ap- 
plied directly to the skin. It does no good to apply it to the 
outside of the wool, but it must come in contact with the 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 223 

skin. This is best effected by opening the wool along the 
neck and back, and applying the ointment with the finger. 
In short, you must apply it in such a manner that it will be 
most likely to spread over every part of the body. The 
quantity laid on each animal dillers in different districts. In 
the lighter mode of greasing, one gallon of tar and twenty 
pounds of butter will be sufficient tor fifty sheep. In Scot- 
land, where greasing is applied merely to preserve the ani- 
mal from inclemency of the chmate, a much larger propor- 
tion of tar is used. This would be very injurious to the 
wool were it any other but the coarsest kind. To derive 
the greatest advantage from the ointment, both to the wool 
and the sheep, it should be applied immediately after shear- 
ing, and again on the approach of winter. By the first 
greasing, the wool will be kept soft and moist during the 
sultry heats of July and August, and the top of the staple 
will not become harsh and discolored. One acknowledged 
advantage of greasing immediately after shearing should 
not be overlooked : it destroys the sheep tick, and has a 
tendency to prevent cutaneous distempers, and to protect 
the skin against the bite of the fly. 

Mr. J. Nelson published a recipe for the scab on sheep, 
similar to the above, but which we should suppose might 
answer a still better purpose; it is as Ibllows: " Take three 
gallons of tar and three gallons of train oil, boiled together, 
to which add three |)ounds of roll brimstone, finely powdered 
and stirred in." This quantity is sufficient for ninety sheep. 
It is poured on with a pitcher or ladle liom the top of the 
backbone to the tail. 

When the object is solely the destruction of ticks, a strong 
decoction of tobacco is probably as good an application as 
can be prescribed. Lambs offen suffer much trom ticks, 
after tlie sheep are sheared; as the ticks which are driven 
from the old sheep take refuge with the lambs. It will, 
therefore, be advisable to apply either the ointment or the 
tobacco decoction to the lambs as well as to their elders. 
And in all cases see that your application goes to and 
spreads over the skin as equally as possible, instead of wet- 
ting or smearing the outside surface of the fleece, where it 
will be of more harm than benefit. 

O.N THE Disorders of Sheep. The following observations 
are extracted from an Essay on Sheep, written by H. D. G., 
a scientific shepherd, who has been acquainted with sheep 



224 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

husbandry, as practised by the wool-growers of Saxony, 
France, and other parts of Europe. 

"Almost all the disorders which attack sheep are caused 
by the want, and seldom or never by the excess of activity in 
the vital organs. The nerves are very susceptible, but sel- 
dom act with great force, and whenever they are powerfully 
excited, this excitement soon passes off and leaves the ani- 
mal extremely weak. It follows from this, that most of the 
means required for the cure of diseases among sheep should 
be calculated rather to excite than to allay the activity of the 
functions of life. A few of the most common diseases 
among sheep deserve to be paiticularly noticed. 

" Tilt Rut exhibits itself scarcely at all externally. The 
blood loses its high color and tendency to coagulate, and be- 
comes watery. The first perceptible symptom, therefore, is 
the loss of the bright red appearance about the eyes; the 
lips and inside of the mouth also become pale, as well as the 
skin generally under the wool. The animal continues to 
feed well and does not grow poor, although the natural vi- 
vacity is diminished and some signs of weakness occur. 

" The disease commonly gains strength in the winter. 
Watery swellings are formed, particularly under the chin, 
which are often absorbed and then reajvpear. Soon after 
these the animal generally dies, without showing any symp- 
toms of violent pain. Ewes attacked by this disease die 
most commonly about the tisrie of dropping their lambs. 
The body on opening exhibits copious collections of water 
about the chest and entrails; the blood is extremely pale as 
well as the Hesh. This disorder is unquestionably caused 
by feeding in swampy grounds, and a few hours are suffi- 
cient to fix it upon a sheep. It is increased by damp, foggy 
weather, while, on the other hand, dry warm weather and 
high pasture, especially where there are many aromatic 
herbs, are sometimes sufficient to counteract the first symp- 
toms and effect a cure. This disorder, however, when it 
has reached such a point that a common observer may no- 
tice tlie symptoms, is prol)ably incurable. At a very early 
stage a cure is possible, if the fl ick is kept carefully on high 
land where aromatic herbs are abundant, and particularly 
among juniper bushes, and in bad weather carefully housed 
and well fed. Horse-chestnuts are an excellent article fl)r 
fodder in this case; also a mixture of juniper berries, worm- 
wood, sage, gentian, angelica roots, willow bark, and other 
bitter herbs, with a little salt and grain, which they will eat 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 225 

of their own accord, or if not, it should be administered in 
small quantities in the morning before they are driven to 
pasture. If the rot nmkes its appearance in a decided man- 
ner before the winter sets in, it is useless to attempt any 
thing more than to fatten the animal as soon as may be and 
sell him to the butcher. The rot certainly is not infectious, 
and it very often occurs that only a few sheep are attacked 
in large flocks; and generally, in such cases, if the shepherd 
is honest, the disease may be traced in every case to some 
swamp or other wet place, where these particular sheep may 
have strayed. 

" Tilt Mouth and Hoof Dislemper. These complaints 
seem to have a mutual connexion, since the former, which is 
the mildest, very often precedes the latter. In the mouth, 
the principal evil to be feared is, that the sheep become ema- 
ciated from the inability to eat. The best remedy is to bathe 
the parts affected with a strong decoction of sage, mixed 
with an equal quantity of vinegar and a little honey. If the 
blisters continue to spread, half an ounce of blue vitriol 
should be added to a quart of this mixture. The disorder in 
the hoofs is soon discovered by lameness, and if this is evi- 
dently not produced by any external injury, and especially 
if several sheep in a Hock are attacked at the same time, 
great care should be taken to obviate the effects of this dis- 
order. The best remedy is a poultice of dough, or fat loamy 
clay, which should be applied to the loot by means of a little 
bag, but not tied hard to the ankle, and kept constantly wet 
with vinegar, till a swelling appears on the upper side of the 
fout or in the cleft of the hoof. This should then he opened 
with a sharp knife and the dead hoof pared off. The wound 
must be washed with cold water and sprinkled with dry vitriol. 
The lame animals should remain carefully separated from the 
sound ones, and the washing and sprinkling with vitriol re- 
peated till the cure is effected. This disease is not only 
contagious, but also infectious, in the highest degree, and 
oftentimes so violent as to produce caries in the bone after 
the hoof is destroyed. 

" The Ilch or Scab. This disorder is dreaded more than 
any other, and did, in fact, more damage in many districts 
than any other, until the proper mode of treatment was dis- 
covered. The scab is certainly contagious, and may readily 
be propagated by merely touching the skin of a healthy ani- 
mal with malter from a pustule on another sheep ; but as far 
fts my observation has extended, the infection is not conveyed 



226 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

through the atinosphore, though it often seems to be epi- 
deuiic, and particularly in very damp summers, which affect 
sheep in many other ways so unfavorably. 

" It is discovered by the animal's constantly rubbing or 
scratching itself, and making at the same time a peculiar 
motion with the lips ; the scabs are sometimes dry and some- 
times moist, and spread very rapidly, though the animal con- 
tinues healthy in other respects, and generally more lively 
than before. Afterwards, however, the disorder becomes 
internal, the sheep becomes emaciated, and dies from weak- 
ness and pain. If the scab is observed at an early period it 
may be easily cured, or at least prevented from spreading. 
One of the best remedies is a strong decoction of tobacco, 
to be applied to the diseased parts after scratching off the 
scabs with a comb or other instrument. The decoction of 
tobacco mixed with lime-water and oil of vitriol, and used 
constantly, for some time, will generally effect a radical cure; 
another excellent remedy is a decoction of hellebore mixed 
with vinegar, sulphur, and spirits of turpentine. Infernal 
remedies are of no use, except when the disorder has induc- 
ed other complaints by weakening tlie general health. 

" The Sheep-Pox. This disorder is contiigious, and prop- 
agates itself by exhalation from the sick to the healthy ani- 
mal, but it has not yet beeii discovered how far these exha- 
lations may extend. If, however, it appears in a neighbuur- 
ing flock, care should be taken to mitijiate its effects l)y a 
general and careful inoculation, since it is certain tliat I he 
disorder is less violent if taken by inoculation than in the 
natural way. The operation is perfectly simple and easy. 
The animal is laid on its back and held by two or three men, 
while the operator introduces the matter, fVom a pustule five 
or six days old, in two or three places between the legs or 
on the tail. The lancet should be introduced in a slanting 
direction under the skin about an eighth of an inch, and 
when it is withdrawn, the skin should be pressed down upon 
it so as to wipe of!' the matter and leave it in the wound. A 
pustule is formed generally in four days, and reaches its 
greatest size on the sixth, when a few others generally ap- 
pear near the first. Soon after this, the usual symptoms of 
fever and general eruption take place, which last is, howev- 
er, more regular and sale, than if the animal had taken the 
disease without inoculation. The only care necessary dur- 
ing the progress of the disorder is to keep the sheep in a 
cool and airy situation. Internal remedies are not required, 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 227 

but the sores should be often washed with a strong infusion 
of camomile flowers, in which a little blue vitriol has been 
previously dissolved, and afterwards dressed with a salve 
made of yolks of eggs and turpentine, mixed with a little 
powdered charcoal. 

" Tht Reeling Sickness is never infectious, but generally 
incurable. Its tirst symptoms are a weakness in the gait, 
and a disposition in the animal affected to remain separate 
from the flock. Tlie head is tlirown into an unnatural pos- 
ture, generally on one side. The animal then begins to 
turn round, always in one direction ; stumbles and fulls re- 
peatedly, sometimes with the head under the body, then 
ceases to feed, and soon dies. Lambs and yearlings only 
are usually liable to this disorder, and very rarely sheep over 
two years old. The seat of the disorder is always to be dis- 
covered on the brain, where (me or more blisters are formed 
and filled with a watery secretion. The origin of this com- 
plaint, and of course the proper preventive treatment, re- 
main as yet undiscovered. A cure is sometimes effected by 
an operalion through the skull to let off the water. The first 
step in this case is to examine tiie skull carelully in search 
of a soft spot in the bone, which usually indicates the spot 
affected. The skull is then |)erfbrated with a trocar, acc!>m- 
panied by a tube through which the water may escape ; 
after which the tube also is withdrawn and a few drops of the 
essence of myrrh applied to the aperture. This operation 
is sometimes successful, but more often the reverse. If it 
succeeds, however, in only one cure out of five, it seems 
worth the trial, since without some relief the sheep must 
certainly perish. 

" Swelled Paunch. When sheep or other ruminating ani- 
mals eat more than they can digest, the food ferments in the 
stomach, emitting great quantities of gas, which stretch this 
organ so as to draw together its apertures, the paunch be- 
comes excessively distended, the lungs oppressed, the breath 
and pulse obstructed, and the death is very sudden. This ef- 
fect may be produced by fodder of any kind, but most readily 
by such as the sheep prefer, especially if they are not accus- 
tomed to it. Green clover and lucerne have, therefore, 
often been observed to bring on this disorder ; but it is nev- 
ertheless certain, that neither of these substances are in 
themselves injurious, since I have known sheep accustomed 
to them eat their fill day after day, for months together, with- 
out suffering any ill consequence. Any young green feed is 



228 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

more likely to be hurtful in this way than dry fodder; but 
only when eaten in excess after long abstinence. If the ap- 
proach of the swelling is observed in season, it may be [)re- 
vented by violent friction of the back and belly and driving 
the sheep rapidly. These remedies are assisted by a previ- 
ous dose of lime-water, which should be repeated half an 
hour afterwards, taking care that tlie lime is good and not 
previously air-slacked. If the attack is so violent as to 
leave no time for these remedies, an opening must be made 
in the paunch with the trocar and sheath ; an operation 
which cannot easily be described, but may be exhibited with- 
out any difficulty to any person unacquainted with it." 

A writer in "The New York Farmer," says : " A gen- 
tleman who was losing his sheep, without apparent cause, had 
occasion to use some clay about his house in the winter, and 
observed that his sickly Hock ate it with avidity; he caused 
a load to be placed in their yard, much of which was devour- 
ed and his sheep speedily recovered." As a cure, therefore, 
I would recommend clay to be placed in the sheep-yard, 
which can, at worst, do no harm, as the animals will not eat 
it unless prompted by instinct; or, when it is practicable, the 
boughs or branches of resinous trees, as the pine and hem- 
lock, may be given to the flock in limited quantities. Roots 
of any edible kind will also be highly serviceable. As a 
preventive in future, I advise sheep-farmers to raise and lay 
in a good stock of ruta baga or other turnips, which are not 
only the healthiest but cheapest food for the winter consump- 
tion of sheep. 

Worms in the head of Sheep. There exists in some parts 
of the country a species of fly, which naturalists call (tslrus 
oris, of the same genus with that which deposits eggs in the 
hair of horses, and causes hots. This fly attacks sheep, 
from about the middle of August to the middle of Septem- 
ber, deposits its eggs in the nostrils of the animals, and 
causes those tvorms which so frequently destroy them. The 
"Mechanic's Gazette" recommends, as a preventive, "cov- 
ering the nostrils of sheep with a list of gauzy substance,- 
through which the animal can breathe, and keeping it in its 
place by some adhesive substance." We doubt, how- 
ever, the practicability of " keeping it in its place " by any 
"adhesive substance." Another preventive which sheep- 
owners tell us is effectual, is to keep the noses of the sheep 
constantly smirched with tar, from about the middle of Au- 
gust to the latter end of September. If the sheep swallow 



AND RUKAL ECONOMIST. 229 

some of (he tar, so much the better, as it prevents or cures 
the rot, and confirms their heahh. 

If the tiy has performed its mischievous function, and the 
seeds of the disorder are already sown, you may make use 
of the following : 

"Take half a pound of good Scotch snufF, pour two 
quarts of boiling water on it, stir it and let it stand till cold ; 
inject about a table-spoonful of this liquid and sediment up 
each nostril of the sheep with a syringe. This must be 
repeated three or four times, at proper intervals, from the 
middle of October to the 1st of January; the grubs are then 
small and are much easier destroyed than altervvards, and 
have not injured the sheep, as they will if deferred until la- 
ter. Half an ounce of assafoetida, pounded in a little water 
and added to the snuff, will make it more elTectual. The 
owner of the sheep need not be alarmed, when the operation 
is performed, to see the sheep very drunk and apparently ia 
the agonies of death, as they wmII in a few minutes recover. 
Dry snuir may be blown up the nose with a quill, and have 
a good effect; but it is a tedious, dirty job." 

Instead of " Scotch snuff'," a decoction of tobacco will 
answer the purpose. A gentleman who owns a large flock 
of siieep informs us, that he had used it with perfect success. 
Spirits of turpentine have been injected into the nostrils of 
sheep, as a remedy for worms; but that substance appears to 
possess one material disadvantage, which should preclude its 
use for that purpose, viz. when thrown into the nostrils it 
kills the sheep as well as the worms. 

Mr. Alexander Reed, of Washington, Pennsylvania, in an 
article on the management of sheep, published in " The New 
England Farmer," (Vol. III. p 60,) observes, that " daub- 
ing the sheep's nose with tar is considered as a protection 
against this enemy. What experience I have had is rather 
calculated to strengthen this opinion. I have always made 
free use of tar among my sheep, and I do not know that I 
ever lost one by the worms in the head." 

It is said by some writers that if sheep are kept in good 
condition there is no danger of their suffering greatly from 
worms in the head; as they will be strong enough to expel 
the insects by sneezing. This may be; but still, the applica- 
tion of tar to the noses of the animals would prove servicea- 
ble by preventing their being teased by the fly, which causes 
great pain and distress at the time the nits are deposited, as 
well as eventuates in the disease of the sheep. 
20 



230 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

HORSE. One of the most useful of tame quadrupeds. 
The marks or evidences of a good one are these; a high 
neck, a full breast, a lively eye, a strong back, a stiff dack, 
full buttocks, ribs reaching near to the hips, well-made 
hoofs, rather large, and a good gait. 

Tlie size of a horse should be in proportion to the work 
in which he is chiefly to be employed. Small sized ones 
often prove good in the saddle. They are apt to be hardy, 
and, in proportion to their size and the quantity of tlieir eat- 
ing, usually are the most profitable. Plough horses, and all 
drauglit iiorses, should be large, as their weight is of impor- 
tance in drawing ; as it is otten inconvenient to put two 
horses to one plough, especially in horse-hoeing. Large- 
ness is also of imi)ortance, when they are used single, in 
journeying, as they most usually are, in a chaise or sleigh. 

A horse's manner of going is a matter of no small impor- 
tance. The ambling gait, or what in this country is vulgar- 
ly called pacing, is not good, either for the horse or the 
rider. It is tiresome to both. It habituates a horse to 
carry his feet too near to the ground, so that he is the more 
liable to trip and stumble. 

The n>ethod so much practised formerly, in this country, 
af teaching horses to pace swittly, and racing in that gait, is 
highly pernicious. It puts them to a much greater strain 
than running ; and numbers have been thus ruined. Some 
colts naturally amble, and others trot. But all may be made 
to trot, if due care and pains be taken with them while they 
are young, or as soon as they are tirst ridden. In a carriage 
an amble is tiresome to a horse, appears highly improper, 
and is di-igustiug to every one ; and I do not see why it 
should appear at all more tolerable in the saddle. When 
any change of gait is wanted for the ease of the rider, the 
canter is to be preferred, than which none can be more 
easy. 

The way of breaking a young horse that is mostly used in 
this country is highly absurd, hurtful, and dangerous. He 
is mounted and ridden bef ire he has been used to the bridle 
or to bearing any weight on his hack. If he will not go for- 
ward, he is most unmercifully beaten; by which his spirits 
are broken and his strength impaired. If he rears up, he is 
pulled backwards, with the risk of hurting both horse and 
man. If he runs and starts, as he probably will, under such 
management, he flings the rider, perhaps is frightened, gains 
his liberty, and is encouraged to do just so the ne.\t opportu- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 231 

nity; and the unfortunate rider blesses himself, as he has 
reason to do, if he escapes without broken limbs. Or, if 
the horse should chance to go kindly, the rider continues 
the exercise till the horse is latigued, discouraged, and in- 
jured. 

Instead of this mad management, the way practised in the 
older countries should be adopted. Let a horse first of all 
he tamed witii the bridle, by leading him again and again ; 
in the first place, after or by the side of another horse; and 
after he walks well, bring him to trot after his leader. In 
the next place, put on the saddle, and lead him in that, time 
after time. Then lay a small weight on the saddle, and if 
he be apt to start, fasten it, that it may not be flung off; in- 
creasing the weight fiom time to time, till he learns to carry 
what is equal to a man's weight. Lastly, let a man gently 
mount him, while another holds him by the bridle, and fix 
himself lirmly on the saddle. The place of riding is recom- 
mended to be a ploughed field. Let liim thus be ridden with 
a horse going before him, till he learn the use olthe bit, and 
will stop or go forward at the pleasure of the rider, and 
without the application of much f jrce. Being exercised in 
this manner a few times, and treated with all possi'ale gentle- 
ness, there will be no more occasion for leading him. He 
will go well of himself; and be tlioroughlv broken, without 
so much as giving him one i)li)w,, and without danger or 
fatigue to the horse or his rider. Aiid, what is much to be 
regarded, the horse's spirits will be preserved, thougij he be 
suHiciently tamed. In teaching a horse to draw, gentleness 
must be used. He should be tried first in company with 
other horses, whether in carting or plouabing ; and the 
draught should not be so heavy as to fret him or put him to 
great exertion till he has learned to draw steadily. After 
this he may be put to draw light loads by himself Lastly, 
he may be put to a pleasure carriage, but coupled with 
another rather than alone, and to a sleigh rather than a 
chaise. 

It may be taken for a general rule, that the gait which is 
easiest to a horse will be the easiest to his rider ; for jaded 
horses, it has always been observed, are apt to go hard, and 
to tire their riders. 

The feeding of horses has not been sufliciently attended 
to in this country; which is, doubtless, one reason why they 
are in general so mean and despicable. Too many keep 
liorses who cannot well afford to feed them. They should 



2/2 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

neither run upon the roads and commons, nor in pastures 
that are filled with wild and water gras^ses. They love a dry 
pasture, not too much sliaded, and short grasses of the best 
kinds. Clover and white honey-suckle, both green and dry, 
are excellent food for them. It nourishes tlicm well, and 
prevents costiveness, which is very hurtful to them. The 
best of clover hay will keep them as well as most other kinds 
of hay with oats. 

To fit a horse for a journey he should not be suffered to 
grow too fat and gross. He should for some time be kept in 
the stable rather than in the pasture, and fed mostly with 
hay and provender; but rather sparingly if he incline to be 
fat. Ho should have exercise daily, to harden his flesh and 
keep him in the habit of travelling. He should be shod 
some days before he begins a journey, that the shoes may be 
well settled to his feet, and the nails a little rusted at (he 
points, that they may hold the iaster. And the pads of the 
saddle should be well fitted to his back, so as to fill the hol- 
lows, and bear equally on every part. And while he is on 
the journey, he should be stabled every night. It is de- 
structive to expose a horse to the dampness and cold of the 
night after severe exercise. But it would be best if neither 
horses nor any of our cattle were wholly confined to dry 
meat in winter. Horses indicate this by their eating snow 
with their hay. Set a basket of snow within reach of a 
horse, when he is at his manger, and he will take a mouth- 
ful tVoni each alternately. Of all juicy food for horses in 
winter, writers on husbandry seem to give carrots the prefer- 
ence. They have been tound by experience to answer well 
mstead of oats for laboring horses: and to fatten those which 
are lean. 

He that would be sure to keep his horse in good order 
must beware whom he suffers to ride him, and nmst see that 
lie is never abused. Profuse sweating should always be 
avoided. And when a horse is much warmed by exercise 
he should not be exposed to cold air nor night dew, and 
much less to rain and snow. If he cannot be instantly rub- 
bed down and housed when warm, he should be covered with 
a blanket; and he should always have a dry stable, and be 
well littered. The neglect of these precautions may bring 
on incurable disorders. 

Horses should not be too much deprived of the liberty of 
motion, as they too often are. Close confinement after hard 
laboi will be apt to abate their circulations too suddenly, 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 233 

make them chilly, and stiffen their joints. To be deprived 
of niDtiou is bad for man and beast. Horses thereflire 
should not be straitened for room in their stables. Stables 
should not be so low as to prevent their tossing up their 
heads as high as they please. Some stables have so little 
room overhead as to bring horses into a habit of carrying 
their heads too low ; they become afraid to lift them up. 
They should also have room in their stables to turn their 
heads to any part of their bodies, that they may defend 
tliemselves from the biting of insects, allay itching, Stc. 
And their halters should always be so long and their stables 
so wide, that they may lie down conveniently. Nor should 
horses be so placed as to be able to deprive each other of 
his fodder. 

When horses arc kept in stables, as they generally are in 
the coldest half of the year, they shtuld be daily dressed, a3 
it is called. The curry-comb and the brush should be well 
used on all parts of their skin which are covered with hair. 
This increases perspiration through the pores of the skin, 
which is necessary to health; and causes the blood to move 
faster in the veins. This treatment will not only cause them 
to look better, but they will have belter health, and more 
activity and courage. They will digest their food better, 
and be better for service. But if rubbing and friction be 
wholly neglected, or slightly performed, the hair will appear 
<lry and rough; the perspirable matter hardens in the pores 
of the skin, or remains lodged at the roots of the hair, and 
has the a|)pearance of a dirty white dust, and sometimes 
like small scales, attended with itching. More especially is 
rubbing necessary for horses when they are growing cold 
after being sweated by labor. In such cases it should never 
be omitted. 

Columella observes, " that the bodies of cattle ought to be 
rubbed down daily, as well as the bodies of men "; and says, 
" it often does them more good to have their backs well rub- 
bed down, than their bellies well filled with provender." 

But in warm weather it would be best for them, that they 
should not have the confinement of the halter, nor even of 
the stable. A small spot of feeding ground, if it were only 
a few rods, adjoining to the stable, and the door left open, 
that a horse may go iu and out alternately as he pleases, 
would greatly conduce to the health of the animal. This 
degree of liberty will be m:)st needfiil when the tiles are 
troublesome; and be better for him than confinement to a 
20* 



284 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

Stable that is perfectly dark. In fly time, it gives a horse 
much ease and comfort to smear his limbs, neck, and head, 
with rancid fish oil, or something else that will keep the flies 
from attackuig him. And in all seasons, when horses have 
been heated with exercise, they should be well rubbed or 
curried. 

When a horse runs in a pasture during the grass season, 
he should have some shelter; not only a shade to defend him 
from the intense heat of the sun, but a shed, or a clump of 
trees, that he may retreat from the inclemencies of the 
atmosphere. 

But horses that are daily worked in summer should be 
mostly kept upon green fodder in stables, rather than grazed 
in pastures. The tendatice of them will not be so burden- 
some, with a spot of high and thick grass at hand, as lead- 
ing them to and from a pasture, at the distance of a quarter 
of a mile. This will prevent their being often chilled by 
feeding in wet nights. A large quantity of manure will thus 
be saved. And a very small quantity of land will answer, 
in comparison with what it takes for the pasturing of a 
horse. Keeping a scythe and a basket at hand, a horse 
may be foddered in this way in two or three minutes ; and 
by the time that, the whole spot has been once mowed over, 
that which is first cut will be grown up again. Where a 
number of horses are soiled, a pair of poles, or a hand-cart, 
will be better than a basket to carry the hay to them. This 
practice, called soiling, answers well near cities and large 
towns, where lands for pasturage are not plenty; and where, 
by means of the plenty of manure, lands may be made to 
yield the greatest crops of grass. For very thick grass 
should not be fed off"; because the greater part of it will be 
wasted by the trampling and the excrements of animals. 

When grain is given to horses, it is an economical practice 
to have it either ground or boiled. When horses are soiled, 
or fed in a stable on green grass, it should be cut and car- 
ried in during the morning while the dew is on. 

A disorder, called plijalism, has for. some years past been 
gaining ground among horses in various parts of the United 
States, which is an excessive watering or slavering at the 
mouth. Various causes have been assigned for this disorder, 
but none of them satisfactory. Soiling them is, however, a 
certain remedy. 

The following remarks on the diseases of the horse were 
written by Dr. J. B. Brown, of Boston, and were first pub 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 235 

lished ill "The New England Jauinal of Medicine and 
Surgery" : — 

"The horse is not subject to fever; that is, he has no 
simple, idiopathic fever; no cold, hut, and sweating stage, as 
roan has. The feverish action which the heart and arteries 
of the horse sumetinies assume is sympathetic, and is always 
preceded by some local affection. It is a disease of irrita- 
tion. 

" The eyes of the horse are subject to a species of catar- 
act liiat afl'ects no otlier animal. It arises from a constitu- 
tional disease, brought on by bad stabling. It is never 
produced by local injury. This species ol cataract com- 
mences with an inflammation of the conjunctiva, without any 
apparent cause. Local applications have no etTect in remov- 
ing it. The only rational method of treating it is to remove, 
if possible, the con-^ititutioiial disease, and improve the health 
and condition of the animal. 

" Oxen and cows have the disease called hots in their skin, 
but in the horse this disease (if it may be so called) is con- 
fined to the stomach. 

"Farcy and glanders, are diseases peculiar to the hnrse. 
They are contagious diseases, but may be produced without 
conttigion, by l)ad stabling. The poisonous matter of farcy 
will produce glanders, and vice Vtrsa. Farcy is now as- 
certained to be a disease of the superficial absorbents; 
whereas, in all the old books on the veterinary art, it is re- 
presented as a disi.-ase of the veins. 

" A horse glandered has the whole mass of blood con- 
taminated. This may be considered by medical gentlemen 
as an important fact, as it goes to prove the doitiine of 
humoral j)athology. That the whole mass of blood is dis- 
eased, in a horse afl^ected with glanders, has been proved by 
the following experiment, made by Mr. Colman, professor 
at the \"eterinary Institution, England. 

" He took a young, healthy ass, an animal, as he states, 
I»eculiarly susceptible of the disease, and introduced a pipe 
having a stop-cock into the jugular vein, united by means 
of an ureter to another pipe, which he introduced into the 
earotid artery of a glandered horse. He then bled the ass 
to death by opening his carotid artery, and turning the stop- 
cock, admitted the blood of the horse into his vessels, and 
resuscitated him. The result was, that the ass became 
violently glandered. He inoculated other asses from the 
matter produced in him, and was able to carry on the same 
disease. 



236 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

" Corns in the feet of horses are very unlike corns on the 
feet of the human subject. There is nothing whicii grows 
in the feet of horses that constitutes corns. There is no in- 
crease of substance. Corns in the feet of horses are mere 
bruises. Every body has seen or experienced the effects of 
bruises upon the human nail. Corns in the feet of horses 
arc injuries of a similar nature. The red appearance which 
they have is caused by an extravasation of blood, which 
spreads itself among the fibres of the horny hoof Corns 
are generally occasioned by the shoe. They may, however, 
arise from other injuries. They are easily cured by suitable 
remedies and a proper mode of shoeing, unless tlie inflam- 
mation occasioned by the injury has been of long standing, 
and assumed a chronic character. In this case, the cure is 
more tedious. 

^'Horse-ail. Strictly speaking, all diseases of horses are 
horse-ails ; but custom has given this epithet to a species of 
disease very common among our horses. The disease refer- 
red to is called slran^lea, in most of the old books on far- 
riery. It con-ists in an inflammation of the membrane lining 
the nose and the arytienoid cartilages. This disease is ac- 
companied by a cough and discharge from the nostrils. The 
cough is sympathetic, and is produced by the extreme sensi- 
bility of the meinbrane thus inflamed. The lightest dust, or 
even a drop of water lodged upon this membrane, in this ir- 
ritable state, produces coughing. The inflammation some- 
times extends to the lungs, and then this disease is accom- 
panied with a disease of the chest, and requires speedy and 
energetic treatment, as inflammation of the lungs in the 
horse is aj)t to terminate speedily in gangrene. Copious 
bleedir.g, from six to ten quarts at first, and smaller bleed- 
ings afterwards, as the state of the case may require, and 
small doses of aloes, from one to two drachms, given daily, 
have been found the most successful remedies in inflammation 
of the lungs. Drastic purgatives should be avoided, as they 
increase the irritation and put the life of the horse in e.xtreme 
hazard " 

The following judicious remarks on the management and 
diseases of horses, Slc, are taken from an English publi- 
cation. 

" The stable. As the preservation of health ought to be 
considered as an object of equ.il, if not superior, importance 
to tliat of curing or alleviating disease, and as it can only 
be accomplished by a proper management of the horse with 



AND RIRAL ECONOMIST. 237 

respect to feeding, exercise, and the general economy of the 
stal)le, I think it proper to begin witli this subject. 

" In the construction of a stable there is, perhaps, no cir- 
cumstance more deserving attention than that of ventilation, 
or of having contrivances for the ready admission of I'resh 
air, and for the escape of tiiat which has been rendered im- 
pure by breatliing ; and it is really extraordinary that so 
little attention should have been paid to so irnportant a cir- 
cumstance. Grooms in general make a point of closing eve- 
ry aperture they can find ; and if, at any time, they are pre- 
vailed upon to open a window, it is commonly so small, and 
so inconveniently situated, as to be of but little service. 
Let any one tor a moment consider how foul an atmosphere 
must be produced in a close stable, in which several horses 
are kept, by the constant exhalation of unwholesome vapors 
from the litter, by the steams of perspiration from the skin, 
and by noxious airs from the lunss, and he will not be sur- 
prised at the long catalogue of diseases to which this im- 
proper treatment must subject these useful animals. 

" If a djubt remain in the mind )f any one as to the impro- 
priety of such close stables, let him enter one early in the 
morning, on its being first opened, and he will experience 
surli a painful sensation in the eyes, and so vident a cough, 
as will afford him the most convincing proof of the noxious 
and stimulating nature of such an atmosphere ; yet such is 
the obstinacy and ignorance of grooms in general, that they 
cannot be prevailed upon to abnnd m this injurious practice. 
Even at this time stables are generally built too low, and 
unprovided with effectual means of ventilation. 

"A stable should be as lotly as it ran be made convenient- 
ly, at least twelve feet ; the foul air will then circulate in 
the higher parts, and the animal will not be constantly brealh- 
ing an unwholesome atmosphere, which he must do when 
the ceiling is scarcely higher than his head. Proper aper- 
tures must also be made in the ceiling, communicating with 
the atmosphere by square wooden tubes, so contrived as 
not to admit the rain into stables ; the foul air and other 
unwholesome vapors will then readily pass off, while a proper 
quantity of fresh air may be admitted by means of win- 
dows. The next circumstance to be attended to is nearly 
connected with, and not less important than ventilation ; 
namely, the so constructing a stable as to be able to regulate 
its temperature, or keep the air at any degree of heat that 
may be thought proper. It is generally allowed, that a uni- 



233 . THE COMPLETE FARMER 

form temperature in a stable is very desirable ; and it is 
certain, tliat many of the diseases of horses are caused by 
sudden changes in this respect. Even slight variations of 
temperature, if frequent, are injurious ; yet [ew stables are 
to be found where this inconvenience is efl'ectually guarded 
against. To accomplish this desirable purpose, the win- 
dows should be in dilferent sides, so that wlien a cold wind 
blows fiom any point it may be shut out, while fresh air is 
admitted by the opposite window. There should be several 
of the apeitures we have described in the ceiling, that they 
jnay be occasionally shut, either wholly or partially, so that, 
by means of these and the windows, the temperature can at 
any season be easily regulated, according to the weather or 
state of the horse's health, more accurately if a thermometer 
be kept ; an instrument wiiich appears to be a necessary 
appendage to a well-conducted stable. If, during the cold 
days of winter, the contrivance we have proposed should be 
found insufficient to raise the temperature of the stable to 
the desired point, the air may be easily warmed to any degree 
by means of stoves placed on the outside, witli iron chimneys 
passing through the stable. It may be placed in the saddle- 
room; tills, however, is scarcely necessary. 

" J ight is also a thing of much impoitance in the con- 
struction of a stable ; and, for the purpose of admitting it 
readily to every |)art, the windows should be large and prop- 
erly placed. I'here is no doubt that the eyeA of horses are 
often injured by dark stables ; and when a horse is just taken 
fiom a dark situation, it is easy to perceive that light at first 
irritates the eye and gives pain ; and tiiis is more remark- 
able when he is brought suddenly into the sunshine ; nor is 
it to be wondered at, that so delicate an organ as the eye 
should suffer materially from the frequent repetition of this 
sudden change. 

" Though a light stable is desirable, the sunshine should 
not be allowed to fall on the eyes of a horse as he stands in 
his stall ; nor should the walls or ceiling be of a white color, 
as, under such circumstances, the eyes would be over stimu- 
lated and rendered weak. And when it is considered how lia- 
ble horses are to diseases of these organs, and how frequent- 
ly they terminate in blindness, no one will think any circum- 
stance tending to their preservation too trilling to be noticed. 
With regard to the best color fur the walls and ceiling, a 
stone or dove color is |)erhaps to be preferred, and may be 
made by mixing a little lani|)l)lack, ivory- black, or blue-black 
with the common white-wash. 



APfD RURAL ECONOMIST. 239 

" T!ie df)or should be larger and higher than we usually 
see it ; for horses are very liable, in passing through a nar- 
row or low one, to strike their hips or heads. 

" Tije stalls should not be less than six feet wide, and the 
sides sulHciently high to prevent any sort of contact or com- 
munication between the horses. They should also be of 
considerai)le depth, that a horse may not, by drawing back, 
have the power of kicking those in the adjoining stalls. 
The door of the stall should l)e made of hard brick, as a 
in jre equal surface is then formed than can be obtained by 
paving with pebbles. Very little declivity is necessary to 
drain orT the uiine; and as great inconvenience sometimes 
arises from suffering a horse to stand in a stall where the 
fall is considera'ole, creating unnecessary exertion in the 
muscles of the hind leg, and keeping the ligaments constant- 
ly in a tense state, it has been recommended to make the 
drain in the middle of the stall, whereby the hind and fore 
feet of the horse miirht stand on a level. In whatever way, 
however, the stall is made, it should be carefully cleaned, 
twice a day, that none of that putrescent matter may accu- 
mulate which generates ammonia, or that pungent vapor 
which is so abundantly found in close, filthy stables. An 
iron rack is preferable to one of wood, being more easily 
kept clean, and t'urnishing no splinters ; which, where wood- 
en racks are used, sometimes injure the mouth. The man- 
ger may be so contrived as to slide into the wall like a 
drawer; and then, while the groom is wisping him, he would 
have nothing to lay hold of with his mouth, by which prac- 
tice horses otten become crib-biters. The height both of the 
rack and manger should be such as to enable the horse to 
feed with the greatest ease. The former is sometimes made 
so high that the horse is obliged to exert the muscles of his 
neck considerably in order to reach it; and this has been so 
placed, under an idea of its having a tendency to make him 
carry his head more gracefully; it is more probable, how- 
ever, tiiat the only etiect of it is to make the horse uncom- 
fortable while feeding. It has been recommended, as the 
best plan, to place the racks on a level with the manger, so 
that the horse may I'eed as he does in a state of nature. 
This plan is a good one. It has been tried both for wagon 
and saddle horses, that is, both single and double, and found 
to answer extremely well. It was observed, however, that 
some horses would throw out part of the hay with their noses 
when it was of a bad quality; but by placing one or more 



240 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

bars across on the upper part, from the front to the back, 
this was effectually prevented. The manger should be rath- 
er wide, and not less than eighteen inches deep. When a 
horse is led principally with chaff or cut hay, a deep manger 
is particularly necessary, as many horses, in endeavouring to 
pick out the oats from the chaff, will throw out a great deal 
of the food with their noses when the manger is shallow. In 
larger stables, where many horses are kept, each stall is to 
contain two horses, which will require a space of twelve 
feet. A manger is placed at each end, and the hay crib in 
the centre. A very short halter is sufficient to allow the 
horses to lie down, and then there is no danger of entangling 
themselves with it, an accident that often occurs when long 
halters are used. La Fosse, in his Manuel d^ Hippiatrique , 
says, that the fall in the floor of the stall should not be more 
than one inch to two yards. The gutter behind the stall is 
comtnonly too deep, and often so placed as to be in the way 
of the horses' hind feet. When a stable is properly attend- 
ed to, scarcely any gutter is required ; and when there is 
one, it should he very shallow and wide. 

" When a stable is ventilated by means of a tube or chim- 
ney, it should be placed in the centre of the ceiling, the 
opening in which should be large, in proportion to the num- 
ber of horses kept ; it cannot well be too large, but may be 
contracted upwards, so as to have a conical shape, or it may 
be made so as to resemble a dome or cupola. It should be 
carried a few feet above the top of the roof, and have lateral 
openings, by means of slanting boards, but closed on the top; 
by which contrivance there would be a free communication 
with the atmosphere, and the rain would be effectually ex- 
cluded. 

" There have been different opinions held with respect to 
the removal of the litter during the day ; but when we con- 
sider how rapidly and abundantly ammonia or the volatile 
alkali is generated in it, and how injurious that vapor is to 
the eyes and lungs, there can be no doubt of the propriety 
of removing it. Dr. Egan, of Dublin, has discovered, that 
the urine of the horse begins to generate volatile alkali very 
soon after it is voided ; and it is well observed by the same 
author, that if this vapor be capable of painfully stimulating 
a sound and healthy eye, its effects upon one that is inflam- 
ed, and consequently extremely irritable, must be both highly 
painful and prejudicial to the organ. In confirmation of this 
opinion, the author relates the following experiment. A horse 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 241 

laboring under inflammation of the eye was removed from 
the stable, where he kept both eyes constantly shut, and 
placed in a cool, airy situation ; in the space of half an hour 
he began gradually to open his eyes, and in the space of two 
or three hours he kept them open boldly. The horse was 
again placed in the stable, and in a few minutes he began 
gradually to close the eyes, and after an hour or two kept 
them constantly shut. Not satisfied, however, with this ex- 
periment, though it seems pretty conclusive, the horse was 
again removed to the cool situation, and the same effect fol- 
lowed as at first. If the vapors produced by foul litter prove 
so injurious to the eyes, it cannot surely be less prejudicial 
to the lungs ; and it is highly probable- that if coughs are not 
produced in this way, they are often aggravated and render- 
ed incurable by those irritating effluvia. Another evil to be 
considered is the propensity observable in many horses to 
eat their litter. This is often the case with such as have a 
chronic cough, or are disposed to become brokenvvinded, or 
have worms ; and in all these diseases there is nothing, 
perhaps, more likely to increase them than the animal's eat- 
ing foul litter. It must be obvious, that horses employed in 
severe labor should be allowed to lie down whenever they 
are inclined to do so ; but even then all the litter may be 
turned out early in the morning, the floor of the stall swept 
perfectly clean, and a bed of Iresh straw put in. If the foul 
litter be spread abroad in the open air, and shaken up two 
or three times during the day, the greater part would be 
again fit for litter, and, with the addition of a little fiesh 
rtraw, would serve to replace that upon which the horse has 
rested during the day. It has been said, that horses which 
stand constantly on litter are apt to feel the difference of the 
road and become tender-footed. Mr. Clark observes, that 
the heat arising from the litter occasions a more than ordi- 
nary derivation of blood to the legs and feet ; and hence 
arise swelling or gourdiness of those parts, greasy heels, 
and stifl'ness or numbness. If the horse lies down for relief, 
the heat of the litter soon forces him to get up again, and 
after repeatedly lying down, and forced to get up immediate- 
ly trom the above cause, he attempts it no farther; he stands 
upright, or perhaps a little straddling, often shifting the 
weight of his body from one Ifg to the other. This erect 
position, in which he is obliged to stand, increases the swel- 
ling of his legs, Stc, and recourse is then had to bleeding, 
purging, diuretics, &.C. 
21 



242 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

*' Lord Pembroke, in liis 'Military E'lnitatinn,' observes 
that after working, and at night o!" course, as also in lame- 
ness and sickness, it is good tor fiorses to stand on litter ; it 
also [)roductjs staling, &.c. At other times, it is a bad cns- 
tom ; the constant use of it heats and makes the feet tender, 
and causes swelled legs ; moreover, it renders the animal 
delicate. 

" Swelled legs may be often reduced to their natural size 
merely l)y taking away the litter, which, in some stahles, 
where igmrant grooms and farriers gf)vern, would be a great 
saving of physic and hieeding, besides straw. 

" Lord Pembroke has noticed, by repeated experiments, 
that legs swell or unswell, by leaving litter or taking it away, 
like mercury in a weather-glass. Mr. Blaine is of opinion, 
that the custom of standing on litter ruins more horses than 
all the mails or stagecoaches put together ; that it is the 
fruitful source of contracted feet, and brings on that ruinous 
affection with more certainty than the hardest work. In my 
own stables (he says) no litter is ever suffered to remain 
under the fore-teet during the day. The horses stand on bare 
bricks, which, in summer, are watered to make them more 
Cf)ol ; bv which means I have experienced astonishing bene- 
fit. Behind, a little litter is strewed, because they are apt 
to kick and break the bricks with their hind feet ; and be- 
cause the litter thus placed sucks up the moisture of the 
urine, which would be detrimental to the liinder feet, which 
are more liable to thrushes than contraction." 

Colls. " Colts are usually foaled about the beginning of 
summer, and it is the custom to let them run till Michaelmas 
with the mare, at which lime they are to be weaned. VVhen 
first weaned, they must be kept in a convenient house, with 
a low rack and manger for hay and oats ; the hay must be 
very sweet and line, especially at first, and a little wheat 
bran should be mixed with their oats, in order to keep their 
bodies open, and make them eat and drink freely. . When 
the winter is spent, they should be turned into some dry 
ground, where the grass is sweet and short, and where there 
is good water, tliat they n)ay drink at pleasure. The win- 
ter after this, they may be kept in the stable, without any 
farther care than that which is taken of other horses. But 
after the first year, the mare foals and horse foals are not to 
be kept together. There is no difficulty to know the shape" 
a foal is like to be of, for the same shape he carries at a 
month he will carry at six years old, if he be not abused in 
after keeping." 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 243 

*' We often hear it lamented, that our breed of horses is 
bad. But I am convinced that, as our colts ate managed, if 
we had any other breed, we should soon make it appear to 
be as mean as our own, if not worse. The abusing of colts 
in the first winter is the principal cause of their proving so 
bad ; for our farmers seldom allow their weaned colts any 
food besides hay, and that is not always of the best kind. 
So that they seldom fail of being stinted in their growth, in 
the first winter, to such a degree, that they never gel the 
better of it. A colt that is f)aied late should not be weaned 
till February or IMarch, and should have oats during the 
whole of the winter. In some countries, they allow a young 
colt fifteen busliels. We need not grudge to feed them with 
meal, oats, and bran, besides the best of clover hay; for they 
will pay for it in their growth. After the first winter, they 
will need no extraordinary feeding till they are grown up. 
Were the above directions observed, we should soon see an 
improvement of our breed of horses. They would be capa- 
ble of doing much greater service, and be likely to hold out 
to a greater age." — Dcune. 

For farther n-marks on the management of colts, and 
training or breaking them for service, see page 64 of this 
Work. 



MANGET.-WURTZEL. Field Culture of the Manp^el- 
tpurizil Beet Olid lire Suii:ar Beet. >'oi/ and Prepc. ration. 
The soil tor these roots should be a loam, inclining to clay, 
in g )o<l filth, well manured, and made fine to a gond depth. 
John Hare Powel, Esq., corresponding secretary to the Penn- 
svlvania Agricultural Society, in giving an account of his 
mode of cultivating this crop, says, "My soil was not natu- 
rally strong; it has been gradually so nmch dee[)ened as to 
enable Wood's plough, No. 2, drawn by four oxen, to plough 
fourteen inches deep. Fresh barn-yard manure was equally 
spread upon the surface, and |)loui;hed under in the early 
part of April, in quantities not larger than are generally used 
for potato crops in this country. Early in AJay, the land 
was twice stirred with Beatson's scarifier, harrowed, rolled ; 
afier stirred, harrowed and rolled again in the opposite 
direction." The soil, on which Messrs. Tristram Little and 
Henry Little, of Newbury, Massachusetts, raised their 
premium crop, in 1824, is a clay loam. 'In 1823, about three- 



244 TIIE COMPLETE FARMER 

fourths of the same was sowed with onions, and manured 
with about eight cords of compost manure to the acre. Tlie 
other quarter was sowed with wheat without manure. In 
the fall of 1823, there were about ten cords of compost ma- 
nure drawn on the lot, and put in a heap. Most of the said 
compost was drawn from the salt marshes, when ditching 
the same ; the other part was from tiie harn-yard. In the 
month of April, 1821, the heap was thrown over, and well 
mixed. 

Piaat'ing. Colonel Powel says, " The holes for the seeds 
were made by a wheel, containing pegs in its rircumference, 
wliich penetrated the ground about an inch, leaving intervals 
of four inches ; the rows were made two feet asunder ; two 
capsules were dropped into each hole ; the wheel of a com- 
mon barrow was passed over them, thus compressing the 
eartli, and leaving a slight rut for the retention of moisture." 

iMessrs. Tristram and Henry Little observe, that, " Be- 
tween the 8th and I 1th of May, the land was ploughed and 
sowed in the following manner. After one deep ploughing, 
the ground was furrowed two and a half feet apart, and tiie 
manure put into the lurrows, and covered with a double 
mou!d-l)oard plough ; a roller was th^n passed on the top of 
the lidge, and the seed dibbled in with the finger over the 
manure, about six or eight inches apart." The quantity of 
seed, according to English writers, is lour pounds to an acre. 
Mr. David Little, in obtaining a pr< mium crop, sowed four 
pounds, but observed, that he thought half that quantity 
would have been sufficient. 

jiJ'kr-cuUure. Colonel Powel says, "A small cultivator, 
which I had contrived for the purpose, was drawn between 
the rows soon after the weeds appeared ; a three inch trian- 
gular hoe removed the alternate plants, leaving the others 
at distances varying from eight to twelve inches asunder. 
The cultivator was twice used before the 20th of July. The 
heavy rains of August made another hoeing necessary, and 
surcharged the ground so much with moisture, that all roots 
increased much less in that month than during the same 
time in the two last years." The Messrs. Little, " in the 
course of the season, thinned their plants, and left them 
from six to twelve inches apart in the rows. They were 
once hoed, and ploughed three times between the rows." 
Mr. Powel, in raising a previous crop, had placed the rows 
thirty inches apart, and left the plants six inches apart in the 
rows. He says, " I tliis year desired smaller roots, which 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 245 

might grow SI) closely as by tlieir leaves to protect the soil 
as much as possible troin the rays of the sun. My cultiva- 
tor, by its peculiar ibrin, enabled me to cut off the weeds 
when the plants were so young, that, if I had applied the 
plough, their crowns must have been covered in many in- 
stances by earth occasionally falling from its land side. The 
failure, vfhich attends the cultivation of most root crops in 
drills, proceeds from the neglect of weeds in their early sta- 
ges. Four or live days of delay frequently make the differ- 
ence, of titteen days in the labor of making clean an acre ot 
ground. The same weeds which a boy with a sharp shingle 
could remove at the commencement of one week, may, before 
the end of the next, require the application of an implement 
drawn by a horse. I ascrilie my sui;cess, in great measure, 
to the use of IVuocVs cxiraordinanj plough, which enters the 
soil more deeply, and pulverizes it more perfectly, than any 
other 1 have ever seen, with equal force, in any country ; to 
the use of cultivators, which complete the production of tine 
tilth ; to the destruction of the weeds on their first appear- 
ance, — leaving the smallest space upon which a horse can 
walk between the rows ; and, above all, to planting the seeds 
of a proper kind upon a surface which is kept perfedlij fiat." 

General Remarks. Agriculturists have not agreed, wheth- 
er it is most expedient to plant the seeds of this root on 
ridges or on a level. Colonel Powel condemns planting on 
ridges in this country, as a practice not adapted to our soil 
and climate, in which vegetables are very liable to suffer by 
drought. He says, "Among the various practices into 
which we have been seduced by the plausible theories of the 
advocates of European husbandry, there is none which ap- 
pears to me more absurd than that which has led us to drill 
or dibble our crops on ridges. The English farmer wisely 
contends with the evils produced by too much rain ; the 
American husbandman sliould as anxiously guard against 
his most formidable enemy, drought. I am inclined to think 
that there is no crop cultivated in this State (Pennsylvania) 
which ought not to be put on a flat surface." The climate 
of New England, especially its northern part, is not so warm 
and dry as that of Pennsylvania, and in that part of the 
United States, perhaps, the nature of the soil should decide 
the question ; if dry, level planting, or if moist, ridge plant- 
ing simuld be adopted. 

We have heard complaints from American farmers, that 
the seed of thi.^ root is slow and uncertain in coming up. 
21* 



£46 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

Perhaps the seed, or soil, or both, may sometimes be too dry 
at the time of sowing. A writer in I he " English Fanner's 
Journal," says, " I have of late years steeped my seed for at 
least forty-eight hours. I made an experiment with twenty 
sound seeds, not steeped, twenty steeped twenty-four hours, 
and the same number steeped forty-eight hours ; every seed 
of the latter produced plants, which came up two or three 
days sooner than either of the others, and some of those not 
steeped did not come up at all." Mr. Cobbett, in treating 
of the culture of th^ common garden beets, (American Gar- 
dener, par. 193,) directs to soak the seed four days and 
nights in rain-water before it is sowed; and observes, that 
the tnangel-wurtzel should be cultivated in the same manner 
as the other kinds of beets. American writers, so far as we 
have observed, give no dnections ibr soaking the seeds of 
this vegetable before planting ; and it is possible, that the 
omission of this part of the process may cause the slowness 
and uncertainty of vegetation complained of. The capsule, 
or husk, which contains the. seeds, is dry, and it requires a 
long time for the moisture which it may derive from the 
earth to penetrate this integument, so as to cause the seed 
to sprout. But if the soil be vnry moist rt the time of tow- 
ing:, soaking the seed had better be omitted. 

Much has been written and said on the subject of strip- 
ping these plants of their leaves for feeding cows and other 
economical purposes. An Englisii writer observes, that six 
or seven crops of leaves and stocks may be taken olTduiing 
the growth of the root. Women and children can take off 
the leaves, which is done as follows ; they should place their 
hands on each side of the root, at the foot stalks of the 
leaves, leaving about six of the smallest central leaves be- 
tween the fore-finger and thumb of each hand ; (the small 
leaves are to be left on the root to grow, to make a iVesh top;) 
then, spreading the hand flat with their face downwards, 
push them both at the same time towards the ground, and thus, 
by one motion, will the whole of the top of each root, ex- 
cept the small leaves to be left to form a fresh head, be re- 
moved without unsettling the root or its fibres, which would 
check its growth. Sjme affirm, that stripping the plant of 
its leaves is no injury to the root, and others are of opinion 
that the root is injured by this means. We have doubts, 
whether, in field cultiviition, it will often be deemed expe- 
dient to expend time and labor in this manner. The thin- 
nings, or supeilluous jjlants. however, should be preserved, 
as they make excellent food for nnlch cows or store swine. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 247 

Some cultivatcirs afTirm, that it is never worth the trouble 
to fraiisplaiit these loots to till vacancies. '" 1 have seen," 
says an English writer, " much labor and expense em|)l(»yed 
in traus|jlantiug into vacant spots, when the seed has nut been 
dibl^leo thick enough, but have never seen the transplanted 
roots worth half the trouble ; the tap-root being broken in 
the drawing, nothing but the top and useless rough roots and 
fangs are produced. It has been remarked by other writers, 
that the most common cause ot" failure in transplanting this 
root is the taking them up when too small, before the plants 
have obtained strength and size sufficient to bear the opera- 
tion of transplanting. 

Use. The following remarks are from a paper communi- 
cated to the trustees ofthe "IMassachusetts Agricultural So- 
ciety," by J. Lowell, Esq., president of said Society. '1 hey 
are derived, principally, Irom a French publication, by the 
Abbe Rosier. 

"This root is very little affected by changes of weather. 
It is attacked by no inject ; drought atiects but little its 
vegetation. It prepares the land extremely well for other 
crops. It may be sown and treated precisely like the com- 
mo I beet, except that it ought to stand eighteen inches 
asund(!r. In good land, they often weigh nine or ten pounds, 
and are stripped eight or nine times. In a light, sandy, but 
wi'll manured soil, they sometimes weigh fourteen and even 
sixteen pounds earh ! 1 he first crop of leaves in fiance 
is taken off" in the latter end of June, or the beginning of 
July. In this country, probably, the latter period would be 
prelerable. The lower leaves, those which incline towards 
tl e ground, are those which are taken away, and care must 
be taken to preserve the top leaves, or the crown of the 
plants. The leaves may be taken off every fifteen da) s 
alter the first gathering. Oxen, cows, and sheep devour 
them greedily, and fatten readily upon them. All domestic 
poultry eat them readily, when chopped fine and mixed with 
grain. Horses will feed upon them very well, mixed with 
cho|)ped straw. Hogs also fatten upon them. 

" ('ows fed upon this root solely give a greater quantity 
of milk and cream, and of better quality for the first fifteen 
days, after which they grow too lat, and the milk lessens. 
The food of cows must therefore be varied. Oxen and sheep 
fatten very well upon them. Cows should have grass in 
propo finii of one-third to the beet leaves, or every third day 
they should be turned to grass. In this mode their milk 



248 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

will be excellent. The trouble of gathering the leaves is less 
than that ot" gatheiing any other green Ibdder. It may be 
done by children, while rnen are required to cut (»ther green 
food for cattle. It is the surest crop, since the plant will 
stand the longest droughts. The roots are gathered and 
treated like those of the common beet. The skin is very 
tender, and care should be taken to handle them so as they 
may not be wounded, as they will, in that case, not keep so 
well. In order to preserve the seed in purity, care must be 
taken to change the ground in which the seed beets are 
planted. The seed can be preserved, after it is gathered, 
three or four years, without injury. In giving these roots 
to cattle for food, they are first washed, and then cut up into 
pieces about the size of a nut. It is always best to accom- 
pany them, when given to liorned cattle, with clover, or oth- 
er hay or straw ; and if the hay or straw has been previously 
cut fine, it will be preferable. If horses are ted with this 
root, with a proportion of hay or cut straw, (half of each,) 
they will be fat, vigorous, and healthy. If they are worked 
severely, a little oats or corn may be added. It is thus they 
are treated in Germany, where this root stands in the stead 
of meadows or grass lands, and whose excellent horses are 
well known. 

"Hogs fed upon them raw, after they have been cut up 
fine and mixed with milk or other drink, fatten as well upon 
them as upon boiled potatoes, by which the fiiel and trouble 
of boiling is saved. 

" As to the quantity given to animals, much will depend 
on the proportion of other fodder which you allow them. 
Cows fed twice a day in winter upon eighteen pounds of 
tiiese roots at each time, together with four pounds of hay or 
chopped straw, will give as much and as good milk as in 
summer, and they will be kept in the best possible state. 

"Oxen fed with forty weight of these roots per day, with 
ten pounds of hay, for one month, and after that with fifty 
weight per day of the roots alone, will be fat enough for sale 
in two months more. 

" Man can eat this vegetable throughout the year ; it is 
agreeable and healthy. No insect attacks it, and it suffers 
but little from the variety of the seasons. The leaves of 
this plant form alone an excellent food for every species of 
domestic quadruped, during four months in the year. Tur- 
nips and other vegetables are, besides, liable to be destroyed 
by insects, whereas this beet is not. The roots can be pre- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 249 

served eiglit tnontlis in a sound state, while turnips are of 
little value alter AJarch. In sunie soils turnips will not grow, 
particularly in those which are very still" or strong. Hie 
loot ot scarcity grows evt-rywliere. 'J he milk of cows led 
on turnips has a bad taste ; that of those led on this plant is 
excellent, as is also the butter made from it. Uliis forage 
on green lodder comes also at the hot seasons, when almost 
ail other green food is scarce, and sometimes not to be pro- 
cured. Cattle never get tired ol' it. In many parts of Ger- 
many, where it is raised with success, they pre.er it to every 
thing else to fatten those large herds of cattle which they 
annually export to France. In feeding cattle with beets, the 
same dry lood must be given which is usually given with 
turnips." 

Colonel Powel observes, " My neat cattle prefer mangel- 
wurt/el to any roots which I have oflered to them. 1 have 
found its effects in producing large secretions of good milk 
very great. I selected, in November, two heilers of the 
same breed, and very nearly of the same age, and in similar 
ci^ndition ; they weie fed in adjoining stalls, and have been 
led regularly three times a day, by the same man. One of 
them lias hud three pecks of niangel-wurtzel and four quarts 
of corn-meal daily ; the other, lour and a half pecks of 
maiigel-wurtzel. The last, which has had niangel-wurtzel 
aL>ne, is in the condition of good beef; the other is not more 
than what graziers call hall fat. 

'■ The application of mangel-wuitzel as food for sheep is 
not the least important of its uses. Ewes } ean usually at 
the season when grass cannot be supplied. The health 
of themselves and the thrift of their lambs essentially depend 
upon succulent tbod being had. 1 am inclined to think, that 
no small portion of the success which English breeders have 
met, is to be ascribed to the large stores of roots which they 
always have at command. It cannot be denied, that Indian 
meal will of itself, in most cases, produce extraordinary fat- 
ness, as well as great size ; but I have been led to believe, 
that diseases are early engendered by this species of forcing, 
which is always e.xjjensive, and too often eventually destroys 
the animal which has been thus reared." 

Messrs. T. and H. Little observe, as to the value of the 
roots lor feeding stock, " There is a variety of opinions ; but, 
from a number of years' experience, we think them a valua- 
ble addition, and highly worth cultivating. Comparing them 
with English hay, and we know of no better standard, in 



250 THE COMPLETE FAllMER 

our opinion, three tons of inangel-wurtzel, or potatoes, (of 
the two, we value the mangt.l-wurtzel the highest,) are 
equal to one ton of hay, iuv Iceding stock g(-nerally ; but 
for milch cows, we think two tons of equal value. For ieed- 
ing store swine, niangel-wurtzel is the only root that we 
know of which wc can cultivate and feed to profit. Six 
bushels of raw inangel-wurtzel we think equal to one bushel 
of Indian corn." 

Qucmtify to an Acre. The premium crop of the Messrs. 
Little was thirty-three tons ten hundred weight and four- 
teen pounds on an acre. Colonel Powel inclosed certificates 
to the president of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, 
showing that sixteen hundred and thirty-tour bushels of niun- 
gel-wurtzel, weighing seventy-eight thousand four hundred 
and forty-eight pounds, were produced upon one acre and 
fourteen perches ; and a part of the same field, containing 
thirteen contiguous rows, produced at the rate of two thou- 
sand and sixty-five bushels per acre, weighing turty-tour 
tons five hundred and twenty-seven pounds. In Great Bri- 
tain, it is said that upwards of sixty tons have been raised 
on an acre, 

Gallur'mg and Preserving. In gathering the roots, care 
should be taken to cut off the leaves about half an inch 
above the crown, as they will no* keep so well if cut more 
closely. Messrs. Tristram and Henry Little say, " As to 
the best mode of preserving them, we have tried divers 
ways, — by pitting them, by putting them into a barn and 
covering them with hay, and by putting them into the 
cellar ; the last mode we think the best." Colonel Powel 
observes, that one of his crops was " piled in a cellar, in 
rows, as wood, and covered with sand." A writer in the 
" English Farmer's Journal " observes, that he has practis- 
ed, with success, the following mode of preserving this root : 
" 1 pack it in long heaps, about seven feet wide at the bot- 
tom. I begin by forming the outsides with the roots, not 
stripped of their tops ; tops outwards ; the internal parts to 
be filled with roots without leaves ; continue one layer over 
another, until the heap is about six feet high, and about two 
feet broad at top, which may be covered with straw and 
earth ; the ends of the heap should be covered in the same 
way. The leaves form an efficient covering against rain and 
frost." 

Mr. M'Mahon's mode of preserving beets and other 
roots is as follows : "Previous to the commencement of 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 251 

sovoie frost, you should take up, with as httle injury as pos- 
sible, tlie roots of your turnips, carrots, parsneps, beets, sal- 
sify, scorzonera, Hamburg or large-rooted parsley, skirrets, 
Jerusalem artichokes, turnip-rooted celery, and a sufficiency 
of horseriuHsh lor the winter consumption ; cut off their 
tops, and expose the roots for a few hours, till sufficiently 
dry. On the surface of a very dry spot of ground, in a well 
sheltered situation, lay a stratum of sand two inches thick, 
and on this a layer of roots, of either sort, covering them 
with another layer of sand, (the drier the better) and so 
continue tbe layers of sand and roots till all are laid in, giv- 
ing the whole, on every side, a roof-like slope ; then cover 
this heap or ridge all over with about two inches of sand, 
over wliich lay a good coat of drawn straw, up and down, 
as if thatching a house, in order to carry off wet and pre- 
vent its entering the roots ; then dig a wide trench round 
the heap, and cover the straw with the earth so dug up, to a 
depth sufficient to preserve the roots effectually from frost. 
An opening may be made on the south side of this heap, 
and completely covered with bundles of straw, so as to have 
access to the roots at all times, when wanted either for sale 
or use. 

" Some people lay straw or hay between the layers of 
roots, and immediately on the top of them ; this 1 do not 
approve of, as the straw or hay will become damp and 
mouldy, and very often occasion the roots to rot, while the 
sand would preserve them sweet and sound. 

"All these roots may be preserved in like manner in a 
cellar ; but in such a place they are subject to vegetate and 
become stringy earlier in spring. The only advantage of 
this method is, that in tbe cellar they may be had when 
wanted more conveniently during winter than out of the field 
or garden heaps. 

" JV(;/e. All the above roots will preserve better in sand 
than in common earth ; but when the former carmot be had, 
the sandiest earth you can procure may be used." 



RUTA BAG.\. The following is an account of the 
method of cultivating ruta baga, adopted by Rev. Henry 
Colman, in obtaining a crop for which he received a pre- 
mium of twenty dollars from " The Massachusetts Agricul- 
tural Society," in 1830 ; ("rom " The New England Far- 
mer " ; — 



'2b2 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

" On an acre, on one side of the field, there were gath- 
ered seven hundred and forty-one baskets lull ; and torty 
baskets of the above-named weighed at the town scales two 
thousand seven hundred and fil'ty pounds net weight. This, 
allowing fifly-six pounds to a bushel, the standard weight 
assumed by the Society, would give a crop of nine hundred 
and three bushels to the acre. 

" The turnips were planted on the 29th of June and 2d of 
July ; about one pound and a half of seed was used for the 
acre ; and they were gathered and stored in cellars and in 
the barn, in the last part of November. 

"The ground on which they grew is a good soil, neither 
wet nor dry, and bore the last year an abundant crop of 
onions, and corn tiie year preceding the last. It was well 
manured at both times, and in fine tilth. It was manured 
with at least six cords to the acre of barn manure, the last 
spring, and sowed again to onions ; but the seed entirely 
failing, it was ploughed, harrowed, furrows struck out, and 
about eight cords of barn manure spread in the furrows ; 
ploughed again, so as by a back furrow to form a ridge over 
the manure, and the seed sown with a small drill harrow on 
the ridges, making the rows about twenty inches asunder. 
As soon as the plants were of sulBcient size, a drill-harrow, 
with small shares fixed to it, to cut off all the weeds, was 
passed through the rows ; and the plants thinned with a 
small weedinjT hoe to the distance of about eight inches 
apart, and the vacant places filled up by transplanting from 
the supernumerary plants. They were once more harrowed 
and cleaned, which was a very small labor ; and owing to 
the very unpropitious weather were not harvested until very 
late. Some of them were very large ; one weighed fifteen 
pounds, and many were nearly as large. The exact expense 
of cultivating the acre cannot be estimtited, as it was inter- 
mixed with other farm work ; but the whole, from the sow- 
ing to the gathering, was not two-thirds of the labor usually 
bestowed on planting, cultivating, and gathering an acre of 
potatoes. 

" My Swedish turnips the last year were fed off to my 
oxen, dry cows, young stock, and fatting sheep. To the 
cattle they were of very great advantage ; and for feeding 
sheep, they proved worth from ten to twelve and half cents 
per bushel. Three years' experiment has increased their 
value very much for these purposes in my own estimation." 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 253 

A correspondent in "The New England Farmer," (Vol. 
XI. p. "277,) says: 

"The soil lor the culture of the ruta baga must be rich 
and dry; and the more it inclines to a sand loam the better. 
Clay is the worst, and wet soils will not answer at all. My 
general practice has been, to manure well a piece of pasture, 
or clover ley, from which the hay has first been cut, plough 
it handsomely over, and harrow it well. I sow in rows, at 
two and half or three feet, with a drill-harrow. The sooner 
the preceding operations succeed each other the better. I 
have sown broad-cast, but the expense of thinning and 
culture is increased. A man will drill in three or four acres 
a day. ^\e alli)w a pound of seed to the acre, though half 
this, properly distributed, is enough. Sow from the !26th of 
June to the lOth of July. 

" Culiurc. I use a cultivator, that may be graduated to 
the space between the rows, drawn by a horse, as soon as 
the plants can be well distinguished. This is repeated in a 
few days, back and forward, and the implement carried so 
close to the drills, as to leave only strips of from four to ten 
inches, which arc then thoroughly cleaned with a skim hoe, 
and the plants thinned to eight and ten inches' distance. 
The cultivator soon follows for a third tinn;, and if necessary 
the skim hoe, when the crop is generally left till harvest. 
The great aim is to extirpate tlie weeds, and to do this while 
they are small. 

" Harvesting is postponed as long as the season will per- 
mit. The roots are then pulled up and laid on the ground, 
the tops of the two rows towards each other. The pullers 
are followed by a man or boy with a bill-hook, who with a 
light blow cuts (he tops as fast as three or four can pull. 
Three men will in this way harvest, of a good crop, tliree 
hundred bushels in a day. Tiie tops are gathered into heaps 
and taken to the yard in carts daily, for the stock, until 
they are consumed. An acre will give from five to ten cart- 
loads of tops. The roots are piled in the field if dry ; the 
pits, two or two and a half feet broad, covered with straw 
and earth, and as cold weather approaches, with manure, to 
prevent frost. N. B. With a crow-bar make one or more 
holes on the crown of the pit, which must be left open, to let 
off the rarefied air and prevent the roots from heating. 

" Use. The tops serve for autunm. As soon as the mild 
weather of spring will justity, I break through the frost, and 
take the contents of a pit to my barn, and cover the roots 



^54 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

with straw or hay. From thence they are fed to my stock, 
being Hrrit chojiped up witli a snik, (Dutch ineat-cimpijer,) 
or spade. They are excellent tur .sheep, es|)ecially lor ewes 
that have young ; and hogs and horses eat them iVeely, 
Steamed, they are used in the north of England for horses 
as a substitute for grain. 1 have fattened sheep and bul- 
locks uj)on them with profit. Tliey constitute, particularly 
("rotn February to June, an excellent culinary vegetable for 
the table. A bullock will thrive fast upon two busiiels a 
day, and will consume hardly any hay, and requues na 
drink. 

" Product and Cost. My average crop has been six hun- 
dred bushels per acre, though other.s have raised u»uch heavi- 
er products. The cost in manure and labor, when they are 
eecured for winter, has been from two to three cents per 
bushel. 

" iV. B. Cattle or sheep fattened upon this root should 
be kept fronj eating them lor eight or ten days before they 
are slaughtered, oliierwise the meat will have an unpleasant 
eavor. J. 13." 



ENGLISH TURNIPS. Every farmer will find it profit- 
able to raise a quantity of these loots. The maagel-wurtzel 
and tlie ruta baga, useful as tiiey undoubtedly are, will not 
completely supersede, nor altogetlier supply the place of the 
ol(!-faslnoned Ensli^li turnip, in the '' Memoirs of the Board 
of Agriculture of the State of New York," (\^ol. 1. p. :2G,) 
we find the following remarks on the best niode of cultivating 
this valuable root : 

" There is no difiiculty in raising turnips on new land; but 
it is very desirable to know the best mode of raising them, 
at lea«t a small patch every year, on old f.irms. JVIr. Henry 
De Bois, of R(;nsselaer county, and Major E. Cady, of 
CoIutnt)ia county, say, that they have succeeded iii obtaining 
good crops several years in succes-ion by the following pro- 
cess. Turn over a turf of old sward the first week in June. 
Yard your cattle at night on this, in the proportion of si.\ 
liead at least to a quarter of an acre, until the iOth of July. 
Theij harrow lengthwise the furrows, so as not to disturb or 
overturn them, and sow in the proportion of about half a 
pound of seed per acre. , 

" If it is not convenient to yard cattle upon it sufficiently, 
about two inches of well-rotted manure, harrowed in as 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 255 

above, will do as a substitulc. Mr. C. R. Coldcn applies the 
manure by strewing it iii shallow I'uirows, two leet apart ; 
then buries the uianuie by two side I'urrows, and harrows the 
ground level, lengthwise of the lunows. '1 his uietluKl re- 
quires less manure, and he has the advantage of hoeing the 
turnips in drills." 

VVc recollect likewise, that we have read, in several ofour 
New England newspapers, that fine turnips have been raised 
by plou'^fliing up old sward ground some time in June, har- 
rowing well, and sowing from the 1st to the iiOth of July, 
and this without the a|)plication of manure. But there can 
be no doubt that Iblding sheep or horned cattl« on the land 
thus ploughed would very much enhance the crop. 

All American writers on this subject, whose works we 
have perused, advise to sow seed of the common Knglisli 
turnip as late as about the (niddle of July. They tell us, that 
late sowed turnips are much the best lor the table, and that 
they are less lial)le to be itijured by insects, if sown so late, 
than when sown much earlier in the season. 

Turnips are freiiuently, if not most generally, raised in the 
United States as a second crop ; and no doubl this practice 
is ofien very eligible, and may be periiectly consonant witli 
the soundest maxims ot good liusi>andry. But when it is 
intended to »iil>e Itic most, uf yoar cnip oj licniips, or to obtain 
as great a product as pussible f)r the purpose ot" let ding 
cattle, wc do not perceive any objeition ti> giving turnips a 
larger portion <if the season to grow in than has b<ien vviili 
us the general practice. 

An English writer on agriculture, whose remarks on this 
and other agricultural topics appear to us to be judicious, 
and to dis;)lay a thoroui;h knowledge of the subjects ol" hi.s 
essays, says, " It is not pretended, that there lies any solid 
objection to early sowing of turnips, simply considered ; on 
the contrary, such seems to be the most pro|)er means of ob- 
taining a full crop ; but the advantages of early sowing, 
whatever they be, are given up, and the season postponed 
from near three to five months, by way of retarding the 
growth of the crop, that it may last to a later period in the 
spring, and receive less datnage from the Irosts than that to 
which it would be liable in its early maturity. The disad- 
vantages attending this plan are a crop far interior in weight 
to what might be olitained from the land, and the very common 
risk of destruction from drought and fly. The weight and 
perfection of the turnij)s being the ol)jects, the land may be 



256 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

got ready for them as for any other early spring crop, and 
the seed sown with the first warm showers. This will atTord 
ample scoj)e (or resowing, should the tirst seed fail, of which, 
however, granting it to be good, and the land sufficiently 
fine, I believe there is scarcely any risk. As to any advan- 
tages of a crop previous to the turnips, nothing scarcely can 
stand in competition with the first crop of roots. 

" The true turnip soil is a deep sand or sandy loam. Every 
gardener knows the proper time to begin hoeing turnips. In 
general, when the plants s])read a circle of about four inches 
ihey are ready for the first hoeing. They are commonly 
left about a foot asunder. The second hoeing three weeks 
after the first." 

Those who desire to go extensively and successfully into 
the turnip culture should raise their own seed from the finest 
transplanted roots. An English cultivator says, " It is won- 
derful what a small quantity of seed suffices for an acre of 
ground, and indeed equally so how it can be delivered and 
spread over such a breadth. A pint might be more than 
enough, but it is usual to bioad-cast a quart on an acre." 

Dr. Deane's " New England Parmer " asserts, that "the 
quantity of seed sown on an acie is never less than one 
pound, frequently a pound and a half, and by some two. 
According to tlie same work, it is very necessary lor the suc- 
cess of the crop that a heavy r<iller be passed over the field 
immediately after harrowing in the seed, provided the ground 
is sufiiciently dry, or as soon as it is in a fit condition. By 
this means tlie clods are broken, and much of the seed that 
would otherwise be exposed to birds, &c. will be covered, 
and the surface rendered smooth and compact thereby, and 
consequently more retentive of moisture, which will great- 
ly j)romote the vegetation of the seed and growth of the 
plants." 

If a quantity of lime were sowed over the field immediate- 
ly after putting in the seed, it would j)robably preserve the 
crop against insects and prevent the turnips becoming 
spongy, as well as increase their size. Unleached ashes, 
eoot, and plaster, have also been highly recommended as 
manure for turnips. Thomas Mellville, Jun. Esq., of Pitts- 
field, Massachusetts, in raising a crop which received the 
premium from " The Massachusetts Agricultural Society," 
in 1817, and which amounted to about seven hundred and 
fifty bushels to the acre, sowed his s(;eds in drills of twenty- 
eight inches the 2 1st of June, on ground previously well 



XND RIIRAJ. ECONOMIST. 257 

roaniirf.d. The following day sowed on the acre thirty 
bushels slacked lime and hfteen bushels house ashes. 

What we have said uhout the early sowing of turnips we 
would merely suggest as a hint, or something to be thought 
of, and perhaps become a matter of experiment. It appears 
to us that our custom of sowing turnips sj late in the season, 
as is commonly practised, is an usage borrowed Irom British 
husljandry, without duly considering the difference of our 
climate from that of Great Britain, and the dilj'erent uses to 
which this crop is commonly applied in the two countries. 
In England they usually teed turnips off the ground with 
sheep ; or draw them for neat cattle during the winter, as 
fast as thev are wanted, and often let thenj stand in the field 
till spring, to su|)ply green food for sheep at the time of their 
yeaning, Js.c. iiut in the United States, this ciop must be 
harvested in autumn and secured from frost ; and it would 
seem to be desirable that they should have had time to ob- 
tain their full growth before they are gathered. 

Ellis, an old writer on husbandry, says, " I'urnips sooted 
about twenty-lour hours alter they are up will be entirely 
secured from the fiy." Some advise, and it may be well, if 
ri'it too much trouble, to leach soot and sprin.kle the ynung 
turnips with the liquor. M'iMahon, in treating of the culti- 
vation of turriips, says, " the plants should be left from seven 
to twelve inches every way; this must be regulated accord- 
ing to the strength of the land, the time of sowing, and the 
kind of turnips cultivated ; strong ground and early sovvii g 
always producing the largest roots." 

The width of the hoe should be in proportion to the me- 
dium distance to be left between the plants, and this to their 
expected size. The critical time of the first hoeing is, when 
the plants, as they lie spread on the ground, are nearly the 
sizfi of the palm of the hand ; if, however, seed-weeds be 
numerous and luxuriant, they ought to be checked before 
the turnip plants arrive at that size ; lest, being drawn up 
tall and slender, they should acquire a weak and sickly 
habit. A second hoeing should be given when the leaves 
are grown to the height of eight or nine inches, in order to 
destroy weeds, loosen the earth, and finally to regulate the 
plants ; a third, if found necessary, may be given at any sub- 
sequent period. Here will the farmer exclaim against the 
expense and trouble of hoeing ;'-but let him try one acre in 
this way, and leave another of the same quality to nature, 
as is too frequently done, and he will find that the extra 
22* 



258 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

produce of the hoed acre will more than compensate for the 
labor bestowed. 

Loudon says, archbishop Garrie, a Scottish gardener of 
merit, tried steeping the seed in sulphur, sowing soot, ashes, 
and sea-sand along tlie drills, all without effect. At last he 
tried dusting the rows, when the j)lants were in the seed-leaf, 
with quicklime, and found that effectual in preventing the 
depredations of the fly. " A bushel of quicklime," he says, 
" is sufficient to dust over an acre of drilled turnips, and a 
boy may soon be taught to lay it on almost as fast as he 
could walk along the drills. If the seminal leaves are pow- 
dered in the slightest degree, it is sufficient ; but should the 
rain wash the lime off before the turnips are in the rough 
leaf, it may be necessary to repeat the operation, if the fly 
begins to make its appearance." 



POTATOES. " Above two nundred and forty years have 
elapsed since the introduction of the potato into the British 
isles. During that period, it has been gradually making its 
way in the favor of the inhabitants ; but its progress lor a 
long time was very limited. So slight, indeed, was the esti- 
mation in which it was held, even after the era of the revo- 
lution, that we find the celebrated Evelyn, in the year 1699, 
giving directions to plant potatoes in the worst grounds. 
'Take them up,' he says, 'in November, for winter spend- 
ing ; there will enough remain for a stock, though they be 
ever so exactly gathered.' 

" The potato began however to be extensively cultivated 
about the middle of the last century ; and now it is grown 
in every farm and cottage garden, almost without exception. 

" If experience seemed to have proved beyond a doubt 
that this root may be deemed one of the most important vege- 
table productions ; if, in the face of every assertion to the 
contrary, it be found a very valuable and, generally speak- 
ing, a most salubrious article* of diet, and admirably adapt- 

* It lias been argued tli;it the potato, at least under certain conditions, pos- 
sesses a slightly poisonous quality. Tlie idea may have originated in the botan- 
ic character of the phmt ; in fact, it is one of the family of the nightshade, 
the sohinum tuberosum of Lin i;eus, and of the <dd natural order turidre, which 
included plants whose appearance was descrihel as lieing " dusky, dismal, and 
gloomy." The genus ov family snlnnam is tlie type of that numerous tribe or 
order in the ■natural s\steni, hiLiiki, many of wlios-e iiitnibers exhihit great 
beauty of iippcarunce and possess \ns useful properties. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 259 

ed to supply nutritious food for animals and poultry ; it 
becomes a serious interest to determine with certainty that 
mode of culture which shall, at all times, and in all situ- 
ations, tend to produce the heaviest crops, and of the finest 
quality. 

" Mr. Knight, the president of the ' English Horticultural 
Society,' has observed, that he planted his potatoes upon a 
soil nuluralhj poor and very shallow ; upon a rock full of fis- 
sures, giving no more manure than is usually given to a crop 
of lurnips ; the manure was mixed up with the soil, and not 
thrown into the drills at the time of planting. The plants 
sutfcrod from drought during a part of the year ; neverthe- 
less, he had very good crops from many varieties. These 
varieties he had himself originated from seed ; and they pos- 
sess the important quality of scarcely producing any blos- 
soms, and therefore the vital powers of the plant are en- 
tirely employed in the production and support of those tube- 
rous processes, the potatoes, which are the sole object of the 
cultivator. The produce of two of the sorts is stated as 
follows ; of the one, twenty-three tons two hundred weight 
seventy-six pounds ; and the other, twenty tons two hundred 
weight one hundred and one pounds, per acre. Of four 
other varieties he observes, 'the produce exceeded twenty 
tons each per acre, all of good quality.' If the reader will 
reduce these weights to pounds, he will find them (reckoning 
the yield at twenty tons only per acre) to amount to five 
hundred and sixty bushels, each of eighty pounds' weight. 

" One of the chief, if not the primary, agent in effecting 
vegetable developement and maturity, is light. Deprive a 
plant of that, and you either paralyze the operation of its 
vital principle, or induce imperfect and diseased action. The 
leaves of vegetables are the media upcn which light acts ; 
and, therefore, it should be the object of the gardener so to 
arrange his crops, that the utmost breadth of their foliage 
may be exposed to the full influence of the solar rays. 
Hence, the rows of potatoes ought to point north and south ; 
for, in the fir.st place, plants so exposed command the great- 
est breadth and duration of light ; and in the second, the sun, 
at the time of his highest nieridian altitude, that is, at the 
hour of noon, shines directly along the e.vtent of the rows ; 
his light is also most equally distributed upon the whole 
foliage as he approaches to and recedes from the meridian. 
The perpendicularity of growth, which is of considerable 
importance to the complete success of the crop, is less likely 



260 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

to be disturbed by this mude of arriingeinent, tiian by any 
other that bas lieretot'ore been einpbiyed. It is generally the 
prae.tice to jjlant s.nall potatoes, or sets of large tubers, cut 
with one or two eyes to each. These sets are planted in 
rows, from sixteen to twenty inches asunder, and tiie sets 
about half that distance, or nine inches apart, without any 
consideration being had to the aspect or direction of the 
rows. As the steuis advance in growth, they are very liable 
to tall over and beconin entangled one ^vith another, thus in- 
tercepting the solar light, which then acts unequally upon 
the disorderly masses of foliage. Hence the crops become 
very unequal in point of bulk and weight. 

" Mr. Knight's philosophical directions lead to a very dif- 
ferent result, fi'e lecuninends the planting of whole potatoes, 
and thi)se oidy which are of line medium size, none to be of 
less weight than lour ounces ; and he often prefers those 
which weigh six or eight ounces. The earlier sorts, and, 
indeed, all which seldom attain a greater height than two 
feet, are to be planted altout four or tive inches apart in the 
rows, centre t"ro;n centre, tiie crown ends upward ; the rows 
to be Irom two feet six inches to three feet asunder. The 
late potatoes, which produce a haulm above three feet in 
heiglit, are to be placed rive or six inches apart, centre from 
centre, in rows lour or five feet asunder. 

" VVIien potatoes are tlius planted in rows pointing north 
and south, the utmost energy of the light will be e\e.-ted, 
not only upon the foliage of the plant, but upon the surface 
of the intervening spaces of ground. If we suppose that the 
main crops will be planted at the latter end of March and 
during the month of April, the sun's meridional altitude will 
be advancing daily for at least nine weeks ; and during that 
period, the developeinent and growth of the stem and leaves 
will be in a state of rapid progress. After the turn of days, 
and when the plants have attained their full growth, the sun 
will continue to exert its most powertiil influence. Should 
the ground be of a proper texture and quality, the plants 
will stand erect, and the maturing process will proceed with- 
out interruption ; and after favorable summers, wherein 
there have been regular and moderate supplies of rain, par- 
ticularly during May and June, with a prevalence, however, 
of brio^lit sunshine, the crops of potatoes will be regular, the 
tubers generally of a medium sizt?, and the quality mealy, 
and altogether superior. If the soil be a strong mellow 
loam, enriched with much manure, the haulm will, in all prob- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 261 

ability, grow too rank, and finally fall over ; nevertheless 
the large spaces between the rows will greatly remedy this 
evil, for the sun's beams will act upon one surface at the 
least, and the matting and other injurious consequences re- 
sulting from close drilling will be prevented or obviated. 
We hear everywhere of potato plants running away to haulm, 
and thus expending their vital energy upon useless stem and 
foliage, instead of employing it in the production of tuberous 
roots. Now this remaik is wholly opposed to philosophical 
fact, for invariably the strongest and heaviest bulk of potatoes 
is found attached to the most luxuriant haulm. The evil of 
over-luxuriance is not to be referred to the paucity of tube- 
rous product, for that is always great ; it is a consequence 
of an over-rich soil, which causes tlie haulm to grow so tall 
as to fall over, become entangled, and thus to lose the ma- 
turing influence of light. Hence, such haulm seldom ripens 
in due time ; it remain.? green even in December ; and the 
tubers, though large, numerous, and heavy, are immature, 
void of mealiness, and vapid in flavor. 

" A fact of great importance to the growers of potatoes 
remains to benoticed. The outside rown, and all single rows, 
will be Ibund to produce far greater crops than any of the 
interior rows of a plot in the garden or field. This depends 
upon a variety of causes, the chief of which is, the more 
perfect exposure of the foliage to the agency of air and 
light. Mr. Knight obtained from one outside row, of an 
early seedling variety of the preceding year, which was two 
feet six inches exteiior of an adjoining row, 'a produce 
equivuhnl to viore than Jlfly-fighl tons ptr acre. ISo con- 
clusions,' he says, ' can be drawn fioni the amount of 
produce of an external row. 1 mention it only to show the 
enormous iujlutnce of light.' 

"Experience has established the truth of this philosophical 
remark. b!very cultivator, who has the opportunity of crop- 
ping upon long detached slips, in airy, open situations, 
should make the experiment of close planting in single rows, 
either whole potatoes or well-cut sets from very large pota- 
toes, each to contain two eyes at the least. These sets 
should be taken from the crown end, or middle of the tuber, 
and not from the lower or root end. Sets may be planted at 
still less distances in the rows than whole tubers ; and al- 
though the preference ought, in all cases, to be given to a 
southern direction, where such can be conveniently given, 
still, for absolutely single rows, it is not indispensably re- 



2G2 THE COMFLETE FARMER 

quir("d, bocnusc air and light m ill act on each side of the 
stem and foliage, and there will he no intervtiiiiig shadow. 

" The .v(,?7 ought to he sandy and light, though niudt lately 
rich ; that is, it" line, nualy, and dry [xtatoes he required. It 
should not hy any means he glutted with manure, and need 
not be deej). 

" With respect to the properties of this vegetable, and the 
purpoi^es to which it may he aj'plied, the ioliowing ob-^^erva- 
lions ot" an eminent physician. Dr. Pare, may not be deemed 
inappropriate. 

'■ ' Ptitatoes are found to produce, First, Cottony fla.x from 
the stalk. Second, Sugar Irom the root. Third, Potass by 
consumption, t'ourih, Vinegar from the apples. fifth, 
Soap, or a substitute for bleaching, from the tubercles. Atid, 
finally, when cookid hy steam, the must larinaceous and 
economical of all vegetable liiod.' 

" It is also known that much farina, or rather amylum, or 
starch, is yielded hy grinding and washing ihe pulpy mass. 
This starch may be employed as a substitute lor that made 
from wh(!at ; and as an article of diet, piepand as Indian 
arrow-root. It can also be introduced in making bread, 
though there is some difficulty in the manipulaiion. As 
food for all catlle ot the iarm, — horses, cov\s, pi^s, and 
Iik« wise for poultry, potatoes are all but invaluable. Kvery 
cieaiure appears to relish them, particularly when they aic 
steamed or carefully boiled. It would be well worth the in- 
telligent larmer's while to |)av great attention to the use and 
etiVcts of potatoes, raw and boih d. It is asserted, thai a 
cow may '-.afely eat them in a raw state to the extent of, 
perhaps, filty j.ounds per day, provided theeyes have broken 
and begun to shotit. Whenever they he given taw, how- 
ever, they should he chopped into pieces to prevent ac- 
c dents. Ihe utility of raw potatoes is, however, doubted 
by many, and therefore the experiment requires close ob- 
servation ; perhaps straw, hay, and ihaff, might be employ- 
ed as a very proper adjunct, with a few ounces of salt added 
to each feed. Whenever steaming in the large way can he 
piolitahly employed, it timst be an advantage for pigs and 
poultry particularly ; and, in all cases, it would greatly tend 
to prevent the possibility of the danger of suffocation which 
ha> been known to result from the hurry and greediness with 
which cattle devour the raw roots." — Brilish Favnur^s 
Mui:azine. 

Poluiocs rcneu'cd from Seed. " Take the apples in the 



AND nURAI. ECONOMIST. 2G3 

beginning of October [or wlieiiever they are ripe] before the 
frost has hurt them ; haajr thciii (i|) by tiie fool-stalks, in a 
dry cf)Sft, where they will rmt freeze ; let them hang (ill 
March or April ; then mash (he apples, wash the seeds Irorn 
tile pulp, and dry them in a sunny window. Sow the seeds 
in a. bed, about the 1st of May. When the plants are four 
or live inches high, transplant thcin into ground well pie- 
pared, one or two plants in a hill. They will |)roduce full 
j^rowa apples, and some of the roots will be as large as hen's 
eggs, liut if the seeds were sown in autumn, some of them 
would come up in the f >lluwing spring. Nothing is more 
comai )n than their appearance in fields where potatoes have 
been raised the preceding year." 

The process staled in " Monk's Agricultural Dictionary," 
an English work, is similar to that mentioned i>y Dr. iJeane, 
e.xcej)ting that it is recommended in that work to hang tlie 
apples of the potatoes in a warm room till Christmas. Then 
wash out the seeds, s])read and dry them in paper, and pre- 
serve them tVoin dam|)s till spring. 

Potatoes thus obtained will produce roots of the full size 
the second season after sowing, when their qualities may be 
more fully ascertained than tiiey could well be the first sea- 
son. Th(!y will be found to vary very much from the kinds, 
from which the apples were gathered. It will be expedient 
to plant but one potato of the regenerated sorts in a hill, 
that you may keep each variety separate. Then, by keep- 
ing the produce of each hill by iisidf, and boiling one or two 
of each, you may ascertain wliich is best for the table ; and 
by observing the quantity of produce in each hill, you may 
form a pretty good estimate relative to the productiveness of 
each sirt. In that way you mav introduce new varieties of 
potatoes, and supply yourself and neighbiiirs, and eventually 
the market, with potatoes of a quality much superior to any 
ftf the worn-out and degenerate kinds whicli are now to he 
found. The subject is of importance, and the man who will 
introduce new and improved sorts of pot:itoes, will deserve 
but little less of his country than he who improves our 
breeds of domestic animals. 



COTTON. (Gofsiipinm.) There are many varieties of 
this plant, all of which are natives of warm climates, but 
only four arc cultivated. In Georgia and South Carolina 



264 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

two kinds are planted. One grows on the upland, has a 
short staple, with green seed. Another lias bh'ick seed, and 
is cuhivated on tlie islands near the coast. 

Pierce Butler, Esq., a successful cultivator, has given the 
following directions tor raising this article : 

" It" the land has been recently cleared, or has long re- 
mained tallow, turn it up deep in winter ; and in the first 
week in March bed it up in the following manner. Form 
twenty-five beds in one hundred and five square feet of land; 
(being the space alloted to each laborer for a day's work ;) 
this leaves about four feet two and one half inches from the 
centre of one bed to the centre of the ne.xt. The beds 
should be three feet wide, flat in the middle. About the 
15th of March, in latitude from twenty-nine to thirty degrees, 
the cultivator should commence sowing, or, as it is general- 
ly termed, planting. The seed should be well scattered in 
open trenches, made in the centre of the beds, and covered. 
The proportion of seed is one bushel to one acre ; this al- 
lows for accidents occasioned by worms or night chilis. The 
cotton should be well weeded by hoes once every twelve 
days till blown, and even longer if there is grass, observing 
to hoe up, that is, to the cotton, till it pods, and hoe down 
when the cotton is blown, in order to check the growth of 
the plant. From the proportion of seed mentioned, the cot- 
ton plants will come up ()lentifully, too much so to suffer all 
to remain. They should be thinned moderately at each hoe- 
ing. When the plants have got strength and growth, which 
may be about the third hoeing,. to disregard worms and bear 
drought, tliey sliould be thinned, according to the fertility of 
the soil, IVom six inches to near two feet between the stocks 
or plants. In rich river grounds, the beds should be from 
five to six feet apart, measuring from centre to centre ; and 
the cotton plants, when out of the way of the worms, from 
two to three feet apart. It is advisable to top cotton once 
or twice in low grounds, and also to remove the suckers. 
The latter end of July is generally considered a proper time 
for topping. Gypsum may be used with success on cotton 
lands not near the sea. In river grounds draining is proper ; 
yet these lands should not be kept too dry. In tide lands it 
is beneficial to let the water flow over the land without re- 
taining it. In river lands a change of crops is necessary. 
From actual experiment it has been proved, that river tide 
lands, having the preceding year had rice sown on them, 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 265 

yielded much more cotton the succeeding year than they 
would have afforded by a continuation of cotton. 

" The mere growing of cotton is but a part of the care of 
the planter ; very much depends on classing and cleansing it 
for market, after it has been housed. Sorting it before it 
goes to the jennies, moteing and removing any yellow par- 
ticles, are essential to assure a preference at a common 
market of competition." 



TOBACCO. (JVicotiana.) This plant is named from To- 
bago, one of the Caribbee islands. It was first introduced 
into England by the famous Sir Walter Raleigh, and from 
thence it spread over the other parts of Europe. 

In order to raise the young plants, it is recommended to 
burn over the surface of a piece of ground early in the 
spring, rake it well, and sow the seeds. When the plants 
have acquired le.aves the size of a quarter of a dollar they 
are fit for transplanting. They require a dry, light, rich 
soil, made mellow by ploughing, and folding is also advi.sed. 
Dr. Deane observes, that, the common way of raising to- 
bacco in cow-pens and barn-yards is detestable. The taste 
of such tobacco is intolerable. Transplant the young seed- 
lings when the ground is wet, as you would cabbage plants. 
Set them about three and a half feet apart, and weed them 
as you would growing cabbages. Destroy the large green 
worms, which are apt to infest this crop. 

When the plants have grown about three feet high, a little 
less or more, as they may be more or less thrifty, their top^ 
should be broken or cut off, excepting those designed for 
seed, which should be the largest. The tops should be taken 
off so early in the summer as to allow time for the upper 
leaves to grow to the same size as the lower ones. Of this 
time the cultivator must judge from circumstances, previous 
observations, or the advice of some person accustomed to 
raising tobacco. All the plants should be topped at the 
same time, whatever may be their height, that they may 
ripen together, and produce leaves nearly of the same size 
and thickness. The suckers which shoot out from the foot- 
stalks of the leaves should also be broken or pinched off as 
fast as they appear. 

The ripeness of tobacco is known by small dusky spots 
appearing on the leaves. The plants should then be cut 
23 



266 THE COMPLETE FARMEK 

near the roots, on the morning of a day of sunshine, and 
should lie singly to wither. When sufficiently withered, the 
plants should be laid in close heaps under cover to sweat, 
forty-eight hours or more. After this, they should be hung 
up under cover to dry. This may be done, by running two 
stalks on the sharp ends of a stick about eight inches long, 
and suspending them across a pole about sixteen inches 
apart, in a pretty tight apartment. As the plants become 
dry they may be placed nearer to each other, to make room 
for more, if necessary. When they have hung till there is 
no greenness in the leaves, and at a time when the air is 
damp, the leaves should be stripped off the stalks, tied up in 
hands, and packed away in chests or casks, well pressed 
down, and kept in a dry place, not in a cellar, which would 
soon spoil the tobacco. 

The use of tobacco for chewing and snuffing is uncleanly, 
imwholesome, and becoming unfashionable with the more 
respectable parts of the community. The habit of chewing 
it, however, is not easily broken. A writer for the " Nation- 
al Intelligencer," with the signature "J. B.," states, in 
substance, that he was suffering under a pulmonary com- 
plaint, supposed to be brought on by chewing tobacco, and 
that by making a substitute of slipperyj elm bark, and swal- 
lowing the juice, he at once got rid of his disorder and his 
propensity to chew this poisonous plant. The dust or pow- 
der of tobacco, thrown over beds where plants are just 
coming up, preserves them from worms. It is said, also, 
that a few tobacco plants set out among cabbages and tur- 
nips, the tobacco plants about one rod apart, will save the 
cabbages and turnips from insects. 

M. M'Louvin, in Loudon's Magazine, observes as fol- 
lows : " I procure from the tobacconists a liquor expressed 
from tobacco, to every gallon of which I add five gallons of 
water ; this mixture, with Read's garden syringe, I sprinkle 
over the trees, putting it on the finest rose, and being careful 
to wet all the leaves ; this operation is performed only in the 
hottest sunshine, as the effect is then much greater than 
when the weather is dull. In this manner I have, with five 
gallons of liquor, reduced as above stated, cleaned seven- 
teen peach and nectarine trees, twelve of which average 
seventeen feet in length and twelve in height. The black 
glutinous insect, provincially called blight, so destructive to 
the cherry trees, is destroyed in the same way, with equal 
facility I have also found that the grubs which attack the 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 267 

apricot may be destroyed almost instantly by immersing the 
leaves infested in this liquor. 

" When trees have got so bad that their leaves are much 
curled, some ot" the flics, being protected within the curl, will 
escape: in this case more force must be applied to the 
syringe, and in a day or two the trees should be looked over 
again, and whatever part of the leaves has not been wetted 
should be was^hed with a painter's brush ; but a careful per- 
son will render this process unnecessary by taking them in 
time." 

Instead of liquor from the tobacconist, which may not al- 
ways and in all situations be easily procured, a strong de- 
coction of the stems or damaged leaves may be a cheap sub- 
stitute. The uses of tobacco in destroying lice on cattle, 
ticks on sheep, &c. are too well known to render it necessa- 
ry to make any observations on this application of a plant 
which seems to be abhorred by every animated being but 
man and the tobacco worm. But a quantity of tobacco 
ought to be grown by every cultivator, to enable him to 
waore successful war with insects. 



PLOUGHING, is the most important of agricultural ope- 
rations. On the manner in which this is performed depends 
all the subsequent operations of tillage on the same land. 
A large volume migiit well be written on this subject, but 
we shall confine ourselves to practical hints, expressed as 
concisely as is consistent with perspicuity. 

in all stiff, heavy, and adhesive soils, that are much dis- 
posed to moisture, it should be a common rule not to plough 
them while wet in any considerable degree, especially if 
there is much clay in their composition. When such land 
is ploughed wet, the particles of which it is composed are 
apt to cake, or run together into hard lumps, which require 
much trouble and labor to reduce to a fine state. Besides, 
mucli injury is produced by the treading of the team, and 
greater power is necessary in performing the operation. 
But, on the other hand, such S'.>iis are ploughed with much 
difficulty when very dry ; unless before the ploughing they 
were in a state of tillage, and not baked or bound down very 
hard. To break up grass ground composed of a strong loam, 
or a soil in which there is clay in any considerable quantity, 
when in a dry state, is next to impossible. You might al- 



268 TJIE COMPLETE FARMER 

most as well attempt to plough up a brick pavement or slate 
rock. Green sward in general can hardly be ploughed too 
wet, if it be not miry. Marshy, moory, and peaty or mossy 
descriptions of soil should in general, when already reduced 
to a state of tillage, be ploughed when the season is dry. 

In dry, sandy, and perhaps in some of the more mellow 
kinds of loamy soils, the business of ploughing may be per- 
formed when the earth is in a state of considerable moisture. 
I>ut very dry sandy land, whenever the weather is hot and 
dry, should merely be stirred in such a way as may be ne- 
cessary to prevent the growth of weeds ; otherwise the 
great exhalation of moisture in such seasons may render 
them too dry for the vigorous vegetation of the seeds or 
plants which may be sown or growing upon them. The 
cultivators of this kind of soil have, therefore, many ad- 
vantages over others vvho are engaged in the more stitf and 
heavy sorts of land, in being able to perform the various 
operations of arable husbandry with much less strength and 
expense of team, and by being much less interrupted by the 
wetness of the seasons. Stiff clayey soils, which are al- 
ready under the plough, may be beneficially ploughed in dry 
weather, and it is said, that stirring such soils in a dry sea- 
son causes them to imbibe moisture, but in sandy soils the 
opposite result is produced by the same means. 
\ It is very fashionable, and, as a general rule, very correct 
td'i'ecommend deep ploughing. But this rule has a great 
many exceptions, and the cultivator who should be governed 
by it without regard to the nature of the soil and the pro- 
])osed crops, would only labor hard to injure his land and 
reduce his products.,. 

it may not be amiss to attend to what some writers have 
observed, respecting the dangers and disadvantages which 
attend ploughing deep without regard to the nature of the 
soil and other circumstances. It is observed in "Dickson's 
Agriculture," that " though deep ploughing has been recom- 
mended by some modern writers, upon particular kinds of 
land, where the bottom and top were of two opposite quali- 
ties, and neither of them perfectly good, that a mixture may 
sometimes be very beneficial, and the experiment of going 
below the common depth sometimes answer ; but that when 
the top and bottom for eighteen or twenty inches depth con- 
sists of the same soil, it is not believed it is ever worth while 
to exchange the upper part, which has been enriched for 
centuries back, for a part less rich, merely because it is 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 269 

more fresh. On retentive soils, where the practice of loosen- 
ing them to some depth by otlier implements is omitted, deep 
j-^loiighing is however extremely necessary." 

In an " Essay on the Best Means of Converting Grass 
Iiands into Tillagfi, by James Roper Head, Esq.," published 
ia " Communications to the Board of Agriculture," it is 
,'jbserved, that " it seems reasonable to prefer light to heavy 
ploughing ; because, all things being equal, it must be prefer- 
able to have a small depth of soil to cultivate and improve ; 
and inasmuch as the fibres of grass in general are fed from 
the upper surface of the earth alone, if they find sufficient 
pabulum, all tiiat lie underneath their nourishment, and has 
been with mucli labor moved by the plough, is like a stock 
in trade, which requires an extra capital, unproductive of 
interest. 

"I have endeavoured by all means to search into the na- 
ture of sainfoin, clover, and lucerne, and the result of my 
opinion has been, that the long penetrating tap-roots of these 
grasses pierce the earth in search of moisture only ; that the 
tap-root is the mere syphon and duct ; that the branches of 
the crown of the plant are fed alone by the upper surface of 
the soil ; and that the luxuriancy of their produce depends, 
not upon the congeniality of the bed or 7iidiis [nest] of the 
tap-root itself, but on the congeniality of the soil of the up- 
per surface, which alone feeds and furnishes it vegetation." 

An article in " Communications to the Board of Agricul- 
ture," written by John M, Mardo, Esq., contains the tbllow- 
ing statement : " VVe have witnessed instances where old 
pasture lands composed of a gravelly loam were broken up 
in the spring for barley by trench ploughing. The old 
sward was turned into the bottom of the furrow, and a dry 
subsoil brought to the surface from a considerable depth. 
The crops failed entirely, and there appeared two very ob- 
vious reasons for the failure ; first, the subsoil brought to 
the surface to tbrm the seed bed had long been deprived of 
the ordinary inlluence of the atmosphere and the rains ; 
consequently must have been cold and infertile. Secondly, 
the dry tenacious sward having been placed half broken 
under the seed bed, the natural moisture of the ground, as 
well as that which falls in rain, was speedily and habitually 
evaporated. Unless in a season of uncommon moisture, a 
crop under such preparation could not prosper." 

A writer in the " General Report of Scotland," Mr, James 
Brownhill, says "Old leas [grass grounds], in my opinion, 
23* 



270 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

should be ploughed if posible not above four and a half 
inches deep by eight and a half or nine inches broad. If the 
old lea be a dry soil, it will plough very well with those 
dimensions ; if it be ploughed deeper it must also be plough- 
ed broader, as the furrows will not ply close to one another, 
unless you have breadtii in proportion to the depth." 

Sir John Sinclair speaks highly of the advantages of deep 
ploughing, in some circumstances and for some crops, but 
says, " it is a general rule never to plough so deep as to pene- 
trate below the soil that was formerly manured and cultivat- 
ed, excepting upon fallow, and then only when you have 
plenty of lime or dung to add to and improve the new soil." 
The farmers of Flanders, which is said to be the best cul- 
tivated part of Europe, gradually deepen their soil by 
ploughing or digging up fresh earth as their manure in- 
creases. Mr. Autbur Young likewise observes, that in poor 
hungry soils some proportion ought to be observed between 
the depth of a ploughing and the quantity of manure annual- 
ly spread. The same writer informs us, that the depth of 
ploughing in various towns of England, on an average, in 
sandy soils, was four inches ; in loamy soils four and three 
quarters, and in clayey soils three inches and a half 

Disputes have arisen among tarmers in this country and 
in Europe relative to the best manner of laying the furrow 
slice. Some contend for turning the liirrow slice completely 
over, and laying it quite Hat ; but others allege, that it is 
most advantageous to place each slice in such a manner that 
its outer edge may extend a little over the inner edge of the 
furrow which was drawn next before it. " In several districts 
in England it is usual to lay the furrow slice quite flat, and 
this is particularly the case where there are no ridges ; 
but in Northumberland, and in Scotland, a contrary syste«i 
is adopted. It is founded on this idea, that as two of the 
principal objects in ploughing are, to expose as much as pos- 
sible to the influence of the atmosphere, and to lay the land, 
so that the harrows may, in the most effectual manner, raise 
mould to cover the seed ; these objects are most effectually 
accomplished by ploughing land of every description with a 
furrow slice about seven inches deep, and which, if about 
ten inches and a half broad, raises the furrow slice, with a 
proper shoulder, forming the angle forty-five, the point which 
ought to be referred to when determining between the merits 
of different specimens of ploughing. Eor that purpose, the 
depth of the furrow should, in general, bear a due proper- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 271 

tion to the breadtli, that is, about two-thirds, or as six inches 
deep is to nine broad. This is the general, if not the univer- 
sal opinion of" the Scotch Fanners."* The angle forty-five 
is strongly recommended in " Bay ley's Essay on the Con- 
struction of the Plough," in his "Durham Report," and in 
" Brown's Treatise on Rural Affairs." In the southern coun- 
ties of England, however, they generally prefer to turn the 
furrow quite flat, or horizontal ; and allege, as a reason for 
that practice, that the weeds, grass, &c. ploughed under, can- 
not well be smothered or withered unless the roots are turn- 
ed completely bottom upwards, and the turf covered so 
closely as to have no communication with the atmosphere. 

In Flanders, land is frequently cultivated by an iujplement 
called the binol, which is highly esteemed. By this instru- 
ment the land is not turned over, as by the plough, and the 
weeds buried ; but the soil is elevated and pressed into small 
ridges, and thus is better exposed to the beneficial influence 
of the winter frosts, and becomes much sooner dry in spring 
than when the land is turned over perfectly flat. When fur- 
row slices are set up edgewise by a plough, they become 
small thin ridges, are more easily pervaded by frost, and are 
in a situation to attract more of the fertilizing influences of 
the atmosphere, than when they are turned over so as to lie 
in a horizontal position. Perhaps this mode of ploughing 
land may be advantageous in stiff, hard soils, where several 
ploughings are necessary to prepare for the reception of the 
seed. If land of this description is broken up in the fall or 
summer preceding the sowing or planting of the seed, and 
cross-ploughing in the spring is made use of, preparatory to 
putting in the seed, we are inclined to think that the "feather 
edged ploughing," as it is sometimes called, (in which the 
furrow slices are not laid so flat as to exclude the air from 
between and from the lower part of the furrow slices,) is to 
be preferred. " Ploughing previous to winter setting in is of 
great use to clays, or stiff lands, exposing the surface to the 
frost, which mellows and reduces it in a manner infinitely 
superior to what could be accomplished by all the operations 
of man." I If, then, exposing the surface of stiff' soils to 
the frost is of great advantage, the more surface there is ex- 
posed the greater the advantage ; and if the furrow slices 



* Code of Agriraltiire. 

t See Husbandry of Scotland, Vol. I. p. 229, and Vol. XI, Appendix, 
p. 26. 



272 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

are set partly or entirely on their edges there will be, as be- 
fore intimated, more surface exposed than there would be if 
they were laid perfectly flat. And if they were turned ia 
such a manner as to form an angle of forty-five degrees, the 
outer edge of the furrow resting on the inner edge of that 
which immediately preceded it, there would be but little 
chance for the weeds or grass to grow up between the fur- 
rows, which may be the case when the shces are set per- 
pendicularly, or nearly so, on their edges. There will like- 
wise always be a cavity under the edges of the furrow slices, 
containing stagnant and sometimes putrescent air, which 
will enrich the ^oil. Moreover, if ridge-plougiiing is at all 
advantageous, we cannot see why a mode of ploughing 
which makes a ridge of every furrow slice; or at most a ridge 
by turning the edge of one furrow slice on the edge of its 
immediate predecessor, should not be likewise of advantage. 
Besides, by these modes of ploughing you form a covered 
or open drain or hollow place between the furrows, which, 
by carrying off" superfluous water, will render the soil fit for 
tillage earlier in the spring than would be possible if every 
furrow slice was laid flat as it was turned upside down. The 
harrow will also more readily take hold of a soil where the 
furrow slices form little ridges or protuberances, and thus a 
proper mould will be procured for the covering of the seeds, 
or earthing up plants in a growing crop. And if there is 
danger of the lands lying too loose and hollow, repeated 
harrowing, and rolling it with a heavy roller after sowing, 
will furnish a remedy. 

Dry sandy soils, such as ought not to be ploughed in 
ri3ges, should be turned over completely, and be laid and 
kept level as possible. Such soils, if rendered loose, and 
laid light by cultivation, will be robbed of their fertilizing 
particles as well by rain as by sunshine. In other words, 
they are liable to suffer by washing, by scorching, and by 
too much draining. They do not need to be made any light- 
er, by " feather-edged ploughing," or setting the furrow 
slices edgewise, being too light under ordinary cultivation. 
It IS therefore " a great advantage to such soils to fold sheep, 
or to consume the crops of turnips upon the ground where 
they are raised. These practices greatly contribute to the 
improvement of such soils, not only by the dung and urine 
thus deposited, but by the consolidation and firmness of tex- 
ture which the treading of sheep occasions.'**/ 
_y 

* Code of Asiriculture. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 273 

On the whole, although it would not be possible to give 
general rules not liable to many exceptions, on the shape 
and position of the furrow slice, which should be cut and 
disposed of according to the views of the cultivator, the 
nature of the ground, the proposed crop, &c., we are in- 
clined to believe that Sir John Sinclair's maxim will apply 
to most of our New England uplands. That eminent agri- 
culturist says, that " the point wiiich ought to be referred 
to, when determining between the merits of different speci- 
mens of ploughing, is the angle of forty-five degrees." 
That is, other things being equal, the nearer the furrow 
slice comes to forming an angle of forty-hve degrees with 
the horizon, the more perfect the specimen of ploughing. 
But another maxim of the same writer is equally worthy of 
attention. " Dry soils being deficient in moisture ought 
to be tilled flat, as any sort of drainings which the fur- 
rosvs might afford would be prejudicial rather than advan- 
tageous. In Kent, dry land is left as level as if it were 
dug with a spade. The moisture is thus equally diffused, 
and retained under the surface of the earth." 

Tiie following is extracted and abridged from an address 
delivered before the Middlesex Society of Husbandmen and 
Manufacturers ; by Elias Phinney, Esq. 

" In May, 1829, the field having lain three years to grass, 
and the crop of hay so liglit as to be worth not more than 
the expense of making, with a view of ascertaining the 
quantity of vegetable matter upon the surface, I took a sin- 
gle loot square of green sward, and after separating the 
roots and tops of the grasses from the loam and vegetable 
mould, it was found on weighing to contain nine ounces of 
clear vegetable substance ; giving, at that rate, over twelve 
and a quarter tons to the acre. This convinced me of the 
importance of taking some course by which this valuable 
treasure might be turned to good account. That a great 
part of this mass of vegetable matter is exposed to useless 
waste, by the usual mode of ploughing, cross-ploughing, and 
liarrowing, must be obvious to any one. In order therefore 
to secure this, as well as the light vegetable mould at and 
near the surface, which is liable to waste from the same 
causes, I had two acres of the green sward of this field 
turned over with the plougli, as smoothly as possible. After 
removing the outside furrow slices into the centre of the 
plough land, and thereby effecting the double purpose of 
povering the vacant space in the middle and preventing 



2t4 THE COMPLETE FARMiSft 

ridges at the sides and ends, the field was rolled hard, with 
a loaded roller, by which the uneven parts of the furrows 
were pressed down and the whole made smooth. It was tlien 
harrowed lengthwise the furrows, with a horse harrow, but 
so lightly as not to disturb the sod. Twenty cart-loads of 
compost manure, made by mixing two parts of loam or peat 
mud with one of stable dung, were then spread upon each 
acre. It was then harrowed again, as before, and the poor- 
er part of the soil, which had been turned up, and remained 
upon the surface, was thereby mi.\ed with the compost ma- 
nure. Corn was then planted in drills upon the furrow, the 
rows being at the usual distance and parallel with the fur- 
rows. At hoeing time, the surface was stirred by running 
a light plough between the rows, but not so deep at this or 
the subsequent hoeing as to disturb the sod. What Mr. 
Lorrain calls the ' savage practice ' of hilling up the corn 
was cautiously avoided. As the season advanced, I care- 
fully watched the progress of my corn-field. In the early 
part of the season it did not exhibit a very promising ap- 
pearance ; but as soon as the roots had extended into the 
enriching matter beneath, and began to expand in the de- 
composing sward, which had now become mellow, and more 
minutely divided by the fermentation of the confined veg- 
etable substances beneath than it possibly could have been 
by plough or hoe, the growth became vigorous, and the 
crop, in the opinion of those who examined the field, not less 
than seventy bushels of corn to the acre. As soon as the 
corn was harvested, the stubble was loosened up by running 
a light horse plough lengthwise through the rows, the sur- 
face then smoothed with a bush-harrow, and one bushel of 
rye, with a sufficient quantity of herd's grass and red top 
seed, to the acre was then sowed, the ground again harrow- 
ed and rolled. The crop of rye was harvested in July fol- 
lowing, and the two acres yielded sixty-nine and a half 
bushels of excellent grain, and over five tons of straw. The 
grass sowed with the rye took well, and the present season 
I mowed, what those who secured the crop judged to be, 
two and a half tons of the very best of hay from each acre. 
" Thus, with one ploughing, with the aid of twenty cart- 
loads of compost manure to the acre, I have obtained two 
crops of grain, and stocked the land down to grass," 



aUD rural economist. 275 

HAY MAKING. It is; a matter of much importance to 
the husbandman that he should take time by the foretop 
during the season for malung hay. He must drive his busi- 
ness instead of being driven by it. Indolence or improper 
management in hay-time will soon give a sorry complexion 
to a farmer's affairs. A day or two lost or misemployed 
while the sun shines, and your grass suffers for lack of the 
scythe and the rake, or your grain is going back into the 
ground, while the sickle is rusting on a peg behind the door, 
and its owner is asleep or gone a journey, may be the means 
of introducing Mr. Deputy SheriiF on your premises, who 
may do more harm than a crop of thistles or a host of Hes- 
sian flies. 

It is best, generally speaking, to cut your very heaviest 
grass first of all; and if it be lodged, or in danger of lodging, 
or the lower leaves and bottom of the stalks are beginning 
to turn yellow, although the grass is hardly headed, and ap- 
pears not to have obtained more than two-thirds of its growth, 
you had better begin upon it. But when you have help 
enough, and your grass stands up well, you will do best to 
wait till the blossom is fully formed, and is beginning to 
turn brown. Clover is the most critical grass, and requires 
the most attention. " In all cases," says Sir John Sinclair, 
*' clover ought to be mown before the seed is fotined " * that 
the full juice and nourishment of the plants may be retained 
in the hay. By the adoption of this system the hay is cut 
in a better season, it can be more easily secured, and is 
much more valuable. Nor is the strength of the plant lodged 
in the seed, which is often lost. 

" After being cut, the clover should remain in the swath 
till it is dried about two-thirds of its thickness. It is then 
not tedded or strewed, but turned over, either by the hands, 
or the heads of hay rakes. If turned over in the morning 
of a dry day, it may be cocked in the evening. The hay is 

* It may not be amiss, however, to state, in this place, that as;riciiiturists 
do not alto^etiirr agree on this point. In " Memoirs of the New York Board 
of Agricultinp," (Vol. II. p. 30,) it is asserted, that "all the grasses are more 
nutritions if" not mowed until the srod is fully grown. It should not he entirely 
ripened, however." The " Farmer's Assistant " tells us, that " the best time 
for cutting herd's grass [timothy], where but one crop is cut in the season, is 
when the seeds of the grass are fully formed, but before they have become fully 
ripe; but as farmers cannot all cut their hay in a day or two, it is necessary 
that they should begin before this time, that they may not end too long after it. 
The same time is also proper for cutting clover; or rather when a part of the 
heads begin to turn brown. Fold meadow or bird grass may '« cut much 
later, without being hint by long standing." 



276 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

as little shaken or scattered about afterwards as possible ; 
and if the weather is good, after remaining two or three 
days in the cock, it may be carted into the stack." 

It is asserted by the " Farmer's Guide," that " grass will 
not thrive well that is not mown quite close ; and the loss in 
the crop where this is not done is very considerable, as one 
inch at the bottom weighs more than several at the top." 

The fore part of the season for making hay is, we believe, 
usually attended with less rain than the latter part. The 
days, too, are longer, and the dews are less copious. Far- 
mers will, therefore, find additional motives from these cir- 
cumstances to industry and exertion in early hay-time. Be- 
sides, if haying is protracted till harvest commences, the 
business of one season presses on that of another, and some 
crops will be nearly or quite spoiled in consequence of not 
being gathered in due time. The forehanded and indus- 
trious farmer thus possesses great advantages over one 
whom indolence or poverty induces to procrastinate the in- 
dispensable labors of his vocation. 

Great advantages would result to the farmer, particularly 
in haying and harvesting, if he could form an estimate of the 
weather so as to be able to foresee with tolerable accuracy 
what would be its state lor a few days, or even for twenty- 
four hours subsequent to the period of observation. Dr. 
Jenner's versified statement of " Signs of Rain," (published 
in the New England Farmer, Vol. II. p. 238,) may prove 
useful for this purpose, and the rhymes may assist the mem- 
ory. A certain French philosopher, some years since, pub- 
lished an article, in which he asserted, in substance, that the 
web of a common spider is a sure index of the state of the 
air for twelve or fourteen days to come. If the weather is 
to be fair and calm, the principal thread will be spun to a 
great length; if, on the contrary, the weather is to be stormy 
and boisterous, the thread will be short and thick ; and if 
the spider is seen to repair the damages its slender thread 
may sustain, you may anticipate pleasant weather for many 
days. So says the philosopher, but we cannot vouch for the 
accuracy of his saying. It may, however, not be amiss for 
the man of observation to pay some attention to this sub- 
ject; for we know that the instinct of an insect is often more 
to be depended on than the researches of science. 

In this climate, a southerly wind, if it continues stedfast 
for forty-eight hours is generally followed by rain. If the 
wind, however, shifts its course with the sun, or, as sailors 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 277 

phrase it, goes round with the sun, in the morning blowing 
from the south, or east of soutli, and changing westerly as 
the sun advances, it generally indicates dry weather. If the 
wind shifts in a course opposite to the apparent course of 
the sun, rain commonly succeeds. If the wind continues 
southerly, and blows briskly through the night, it commonly, 
as the phrase is, "blows up rain." This eflect of a south 
wind in this country may be thus accounted for. A souther- 
ly wind is a current of air which has its origin in warmer 
latitudes than those in which we are situated. This current 
in passing over the ocean imbibes or takes up as much water 
as air of its temperature can hold in solution. Passing into 
higher or colder latitudes the air of the current parts with a 
portion of its heat or caloric, and cannot retain so much 
water as it held in its outset. Clouds or vapors are there- 
fore formed, and the excess of moisture is deposited in mist, 
rain, hail, or snow, according to circumstances, the season, 
&c. On the contrary, a northerly wind, coming from a com- 
paratively cold latitude, acquires caloric as it advances, and 
witli that acquisition its capacity for holding water in solu- 
tion is increased. Therefore a northerly wind is a drijw^ 
wind, and its predominance soon dissipates clouds and intro- 
duces fair weather. 

But to come down from the clouds to matters more within 
the reach of the reader. It has been often recommended by 
writers on agriculture to cart hay, particularly clover, before 
the stalks are dry ; and either to put it up witli alternate 
layers of straw, or to salt it at the rate of from half to one 
bu.shel of salt to the ton. 

" Salt hay in this country has usually been hurt by lying 
too long in the swaths. The method in which I have treated 
it for several years, is, to cock it the next day after it is cut, 
and carry it in, without delaying more than one day, and 
put a layer of some kind of dry straw between load and load 
of it in the mow, to prevent its taking damage by over-heat- 
ing. The straw contracts so much of its moisture and salt- 
ness, that the cattle will eat it very freely ; and the hay ia 
far better than that made in the common way."* 

The making of herbage plants [such as clover, lucerne, 
sainfoin burnet, &c.] into hay, is a process somewhat dif- 
ferent from that of making hay from natural grasses. As 
soon as the swath is thoroughly dry above, it is gently turn- 

* Deane's New England Fanner. 

24 



278 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

ed over (not tedded nor scattered) without breaking it. 
Sometimes this is done by the hand, or by a small lork ; 
and some farmers are so anxious to prevent the swath t'roin 
being broken, that they will not permit the use of the rake 
shaft. Another writer observes, that the practice of the best 
English, Flemish, and French farmers, is to expose the hay 
as little as possible to the sun. It is carried in dry, but pre- 
serves its green color ; and we see hay of one or two years 
old in their market, of so bright a green color that we could 
scarcely conceive it to be cured. Yet they are in the prac- 
tice of preserving it for years, and value it more for its age. 
If such a course be best in climates so cool and cloudy, 
how much more important would it be under our scorching 
summer suns. 

" But if the weather be unsettled, or if showers be fre- 
quent, it may be better to spread grass well as soon as it is 
mowed, stir it often, cock it the same day it is moved ; open 
it the next fair day, when the dew is off"; let it sweat a little 
in the cock, and house it as soon as it is dry enough. It 
will bear to be laid greener on a scaff'old than in a ground 
mow ; and in a narrow mow greener than in a broad one ;. 
and that which is least of all made should be put upon the 
scaff'old." — Deane. 

Sir John Sinclair is very explicit on the subject of " mak- 
ing clover into hay." "The process," he observes, " is quite 
ditferent from the plan of making hay from natural grasses." 
Mr. Liorrain gives us both sides of this question. He says, 
•' I did not like to abandon the practice of curing hny in the 
swath, having observed that it saved labor. The grasses are 
at all times very expeditiously turned in the swath. If con- 
tinued rains occur, the swaths are not only quickly turned, 
but if the sun shines powerfully between the showers, the 
inside of them is not parched by its rays. By turning the 
swaths throughout long-continued rain, as often as the un- 
der side of them was likely to be injured by fermentation, I 
have saved extensive fields of hay ; while my neighbours, 
who gave no attention to this interesting subject, had their 
crops entirely ruined. If the grasses, however, be raked up 
into small winrows, they are as readily turned, and may be 
as etTectually preserved as if they remained in swaths, but 
in this case the labor is greater." 

The same writer, however, in the next paragraph, takes 
other ground. " Curing hay," he observes, " in swath, to 
save the juices, seems to be not only practically wrong, but 



AND UURAI, ECONOMIST. 279 

also opposed to reason. The confined heat and moisture in 
the interior of the swath promote fermentation, and must be 
more or less injurious to the nutritive matter contained in 
the grasses. It is exactly calculated to weaken the grasp of 
the leaves, and to separate them from the stalk. It also 
greatly weakens their general texture, and causes them to 
crumble into pieces when they becon)e dry. While this is 
doing, the outside surface of the swath is scorched by the 
rays of the sun, and becomes but little better than straw, 
before the inside is moderately cured. In raking, cocking, 
heaping, and inning, the swaths are so far separated, that 
many of the leaves are lost before the hay gets into the 
mow ; but few of them get into the rack." 

We have thus given both sides of the controverted ques- 
tion in agriculture, and our readers will take that which ap- 
pears to them most tenable. W^e confess ourselves rather 
inclined to embrace the opinions ol" a correspondent who 
says, " If it be correct to ' make hay while the sun shines,' 
it may be well to make it as quickly as possible ; but in this, 
as in many other processes, circumstances alter cases." 



HARVESTING. It is asserted, as a general rule, that 
the proper time to reap wheat or rye is when the straw be- 
gins to shrink and become white about half an inch below 
the ear. This appearance is a sure indication that the grain 
has ceased to receive nourishment iVom the roots of the 
plant ; and by cutting earlv, provided it is not taken to the 
barn or stack too green, the following advantages will be 
gained : 1st. The grain will make more and whiter flour. 
iiJd. There will be less wasted by the grain's shelling. 3d. 
By conunencing harvest early, you will have a fairer pros- 
pect of tinisliing before the last cuttings become too ripe, so 
that much of the grain will shell out in reaping and securing 
the crop. 4th. If you cut your grain as soon as it will an- 
swer, your straw and chatf will contain much more nourish- 
ment than if it were bleached and made brittle by the sun, 
air, dew, and rain, all of which combine to deprive it of most 
of its value for fodder. 5th. Should you plough in your 
stubble immediately after harvest, or mow it and secure it 
for fodder or litter, (either of which modes of management 
is perfectly consonant with the rules of good husbandry,) 
the stubble will make much better food t"or your cattle or ma- 



280 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

nure for your ground, than if it had yielded all its sweets 
and inucli of its substance to the greedy elements above 
mentioned. 

If your wheat or rye is much affected by blight or rust, it 
should be cut even while still in the milk, and afterwards 
exposed to the sun and air, till the straw is sufficiently dry 
and the grain so much hardened that it will answer to de- 
posit in the barn or stack. The heads, in such cases, should 
be so placed by the reapers as not to touch the ground. This 
may be drtne by laying the top ends of each handful on the 
lower end of the preceding one. 

If your grain is encumbered with grass or weeds, you 
must cut it prelty near the top, in order to avoid as much as 
possible those extraneous substances. It will also be neces- 
.sary to reap somewhat earlier than might be otherwise ex- 
pedient, that you may liave time to dry the weeds without 
danger of the grain's shelling out. If your grain is very 
ripe when you harvest it, the bands should be made early in 
the morning while the straw is moist and pliable. And Dr, 
Deane recommends, in such cases, to bind the sheaves when 
the air begins to be damp towards evening, as the least 
degree of moisture will toughen the straw. 

It has been recommended by several English writers to 
bind v.'heat as well as rye with only one length of the straw. 
If the straw is pretty long, and not very thoroughly dry, this 
may be good economy. Vou save the trouble of making 
bands; your wheat will dry better in the sheaf; (as the 
sheaves must of course be small ;) and though it may take 
some more time and trouble to pitch and handle it, we believe 
the advantages, in many cases, will turn the scale in favor 
of binding wheat with single lengths of straw. 

In stowing wheat or rye, some persons deposit the sheaves 
on a mow of hay ; but this is a bad plan, as the grain pres- 
ses the hav so that it is apt to become musty, and communi- 
cate a musty or mouldy taint to the superincumbent grain ; 
which will be harder to thresh than if it had a more dry and 
airy location. It may be placed on a sca.ffold of rails, laid 
on the beams, and over the floor of a barn ; though it is not 
so easy to procure it for threshing as if it wore laid on a 
scaffold of less elevation. But this disadvantage may be 
more than compensated by its being in a situation favorable 
for drying. If there is a deficiency of barn room, the 
sheaves may be stored in stacks. In that case, " care should 
be taken that the grain may not draw moisture from the 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 281 

ground, by laying boards, straw, or rubbish under the stack. 
A better way still, is to have a tight floor of boards mounted 
on four blocks, set in the ground, and so high from the 
ground as to prevent the entering of vermin. 

" In building a stack, care should be taken to keep the 
seed ends of the sheaves in the middle, and a little higher 
than the outer ends. No fowls can then come at the grain; 
and the rain that falls on the outer ends will run off, and not 
pass towards the centre. The stack should be well topped 
with straw, that the rain may be completely turned off." 

Outs. It is advised to harvest oats before the straw has 
wholly turned yellow. The straw will be of little value, if 
permitted to stand till it becomes white and destitute of sap. 
Though oats sliould be well dried on the ground, after cut- 
ting, they should not be raked nor handled when they are in 
the driest state. They should be gathered mornings and 
evenings, when the straw is made limber and pliable by the 
moisture of the air. If they are housed while a little damp, 
there will be no danger, if they have been previously tho- 
roughly dried. 

liarletj. We are told by the wise men of agriculture, 
that some of the rules which should be observed in harvest- 
ing wheat, rye, and oats, will not apply to barley. Willich's 
"Domestic Encyclopedia "states, that, " with respect to the 
time when barley is fit to be mowed, farmers frequently fall 
into the error of cutting it before it is perfectly ripe ; think- 
ing it will attain to perfect maturity if it lie in the swath. 
This, however, is a very comm(»n error, as it will shrivel in 
the field, and afterwards make but an indilferent malt ; it 
also threshes with more difficulty, and is apt to be bruised 
under the flail. The only certain test of judging when it is 
fit to mow must be from the dropping and falling of the ears, 
so as to double against the straw. In that state, and not 
before, it may be cut with all expedition and carried in with- 
out danger to the mow. 

Dr. Deane's "New England Farmer" states, that " some 
have got an opinion that barley should be harvested before 
it is quite ripe. Though the flour maybe a little whiter, 
the grain shrinks so much that the crop seems greatly di- 
minished and wasted by early cutting. No grain, I think, re- 
quires more ripening than this ; and it is not apt to scatter 
out when it is very ripe. It should be threshed soon after 
harvesting ; and much beating, after it is cleared from the 
straw, is necessary in order to get off" the beards. Let it lie 
24* 



282 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

a night or two in the dew, after it is cut, and the beards will 
come off the more easily. 



DRAINS used in farming are of two kinds, open and 
covered. Drains should be of a size and depth proportioned 
to the extent of the swamp and the probable quantity of 
water for which they are designed to be channels. They 
should generally be carried through the lowest and wettest 
part of the soil, although it should be necessary, in order to 
effect that purpose, to deviate from straight lines Open 
drains sometimes answer the double purpose of conveying off 
superfluous water and of inclosing fields ; but they make a 
hazardous and inconvenient fence without the addition of a 
bank, hedge, or railing. The " Farmer's Assistant" says, 
•' When a ditch is made for a fence, it ought to be four feet 
wide at the top, one or less at tlie bottom, and about two 
and a half deep ; with the earth all thrown out on one side, 
and banked up as high as po.ssible." Sir John Sinclair 
states, that " it is a general rule regarding open drains, with 
a view of giving sufficient slope and stability to their sides, 
that the width at top should be three times as much as that 
which is necessary at the bottom, and in the case of peat- 
mosses or soft soils, it should be such as to allow tlie water 
to run off without stagnation, but not with so rapid a motion 
as to injure the bottom." 

But before you attempt to drain a piece of land, it will be 
well not only to calculate the cost, but to ascertain the nature 
of the soil which it is proposed to render fit for cultivation. 
If the subsoil or under layer be clay, the swamp may be 
worth draining, though there shotild be no more than six 
inches of black soil or mud over it, for the clay and the mud 
mixed will make a fertile soil. But if the subsoil or under 
stratum be gravel or white sand, it will not, in common cases, 
be best to undertake draining, unless the depth of black mud 
be as much as from fifteen or eighteen inches deep ; for the 
soil will settle after draining, and be less deep than it was 
before. But the situation of the land to be drained may 
authorize some variation from these general rules. 

The manner of draining a swamp is as follows. Beginning 
at the outlet, pass a large ditch through it, so as mostly to 
cut the lowest parts. Then make another ditch quite round 
it, near to the border, to cut otVthe springs which come from 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 283 

the upland, and to receive the water that runs down from 
the hills upon the surface in great rains. These ditches 
should be larger or smaller, in some proportion to the size 
of the swamp, the shape and size of the hills which surround 
it, and other circumstances, which might tend to greater or 
less quantities of water being occasionally or generally led 
to the ditches. If the swamp be large, it may be necessary 
that some smaller cross drains should be cut in several of the 
lowest parts. The bottom of the main ditches, when the 
soil is not of an extraordinary depth, must be lower than the 
bottom of the loose soil ; otherwise the soil will never be- 
come sufficiently dry and firm.* 

It is said, by Sir John Sinclair, (Code of Agriculture, p. 
182,) that, " in all drains, it is a rule to begin at the lowest 
place and to work upwards, by which the water will always 
pass from the workmen and point out the level. This ena- 
bles the laborers also to work in coarse weather, and prevents 
their being interrupted by wet so early in the season as 
otherwise might happen." 

The mud and other materials which are dug out of a ditch 
or drain should not be suffered to lie in heaps or banks by 
the side of the ditch, but should be spread as equally as pos- 
sible over the surface of the drained land. In this way, the 
matter taken from the ditches will tend to level tlie surface 
of the swamp, will, perhaps, serve in some measure f)r ma- 
niwe, and will not present any impediment to the passage of 
the water to the ditches. In some cases it may be advisable 
to transport the earth which is taken from the ditches to 
the farm-yard or the hogpen, to form a part of that layer 
which good fanners generally spread over those places in 
autumn, to imbibe liquid manure, or make into compost with 
dung. In many instances, we are told, that the earth thus 
dug out of ditches is thought to be worth enough to pay for 
the expense of digging the ditches. 

Mr. Henry W. Delavan, in a communication on the sub- 
ject of Underdrainins;, in " The New England Farmer," 
(Vol.X. p. 97,) says': — 

" Without this salutary and simple operation, no in- 
considerable proportion of many valuable districts of our 
country must continue little better than waste. It is gener- 
ally total loss of labor to the farmer who attempts to cultivate 
»vet lands in our rigorous climate, and by draining, these 

* See Deane's New England Farmer, article Diains. 



284 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

useless inhospitable acres have been found of the kindliest 
and most productive character. 

" Having a surplus of stones on my estate beyond what 
fences require, I use the smaller and ill-formed lor drains ; 
they have the advantage of brush in durability and of tiles 
in economy. My drains are, for the most part, three feet in 
depth, two feet in width at top, sloping to one at bottom. 
The bottom stones are largest, and are carefully placed to 
allow the water to How freely beneath, while above the small 
stones are thrown in at random, so that when levelled they 
are beneath tlie plough. Over these swingle-tow, shavings, 
or straw, may be thrown, after which the earth can be re- 
placed by the spade or plough, so as to present a rather 
higher surface than the grounds adjacent, and the business 
is accomplished. It is very essential that the descent be 
easy, neither too quick nor too slow, and that all surface 
ivater be excluded, as it would speedily choke and destroy 
the underdraining. I estimate the average cost of such 
drains at sixty-two and a half cents the rod. It should be 
remarked, tbat underdraining is adapted to lands presenting 
sutficient declivity to carry otf the springs, and it is only the 
under water that is meant to be drained in this manner, 
while open ditches are adapted to the bottom lands for the 
conveyance of surface water. 1 will state what appears to 
me the prominent advantages that the cultivator may prom- 
ise himself by a thorough system of draining. 

" Jn the first place, he creates, as it were, so much addi- 
tional terra firma, and adds essentially to the health of all 
around him, by correcting tlie ill tendencies of excessive 
moisture. He can cultivate reclaimed lands several weeks 
earlier and as much later in each year than those that are un- 
reclaimed, and his crops are better and more sure. The labor 
of after tillage is much diminished. The stones that impede 
the plough and scythe are removed; and not the least essen- 
tial beneht is the constant supplies of water which may be 
insured in any field inclining to moisture, which, with refe- 
rence to animals, will, as a permanent convenience and ad- 
vantage, fully compensate the expense of drains." 



PASTURE. "To manage pasture land advantageously, it 
should be well fenced in small lots, of four, eight, or twelve 
acres, according to the largeness of one's fami and stock ; 



AND RDRAL ECONOMIST. 205 

and tJiese lots should be bordered at least with rows of trees. 
It is best that trees of some kind or other should be growing 
scattered in every point of a pasture, so that the cattle may 
never have to go far in a hot hour to obtain a comfortable 
shade. The grass will spring earlier in lots that are thus 
sheltered, and they will bear drought the better. But too 
great a proportion of shade should be avoided, as it will give 
a sourness to the grass. 

" Small lots thus sheltered are not left bare of snow so 
early in the spring as larger ones lying bare, as fences and 
trees cause more of it to remain upon the ground. The 
cold winds in JNIarch and April hurt the grass much when 
the ground is bare. And the winds in winter will not suffer 
snow to lie deep on land that is too open to the rake of 
winds and storms. 

" It is hurtful to pastures to turn in cattle too early in the 
spring ; and most hurtful to those pastures in which the 
grass springs earliest, as in very low and wet pastures. 
Potching such land in the spring destroys the sward, so 
that it will produce the less quantity of grass. Neither 
should cattle be let into any pasture until the grass is so 
much grown as to afford them a good bite, so that they may 
fill themselves without rambling over the whole lot. The 
20th of May is early enough to turn cattle into almost any 
of our pastures. Out of some they should be kept later. 
The driest pastures should be used hrst, though in them the 
grass is shortest, that the potching of the ground in the wet- 
test may be prevented. 

"The bushes and shrubs that rise in pastures should be 
cut in the most likely times to destroy them. Thistles and 
other bad weeds should bo cut down before their seeds have 
ripened ; and ant-hills should be destroyed. Much may be 
done towards subduing a bushy pasture by keeping cattle 
hungry in it. A continual browsirjg keeps down the young 
shoots, and totally kills many of the bushes. Steers and 
heifers may mend such a pasture, and continue growing. 

" But as to cleared pastures, it is* not right to turn in all 
sorts of cattle promiscuously. Milch kine, working oxen, 
and fatting beasts, should have the first feeding of an inclo- 
sure ; afterwards, sheep and horses. When the first lot is 
thus fed off, it should be shut up, and the dung that has been 
dropped should be beat to pieces, and well scattered. After- 
wards, the second pasture should be treated in the same 



286 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

manner, and the rest in course, feeding the wettest pasture 
after the driest, that the soil may be less pofched. 

"Something considerable is saved by letting all sorts of 
grazing animals take their turn in a pasture. By means of 
this, nearly all the herbage produced will be eaten ; much 
of which would otherwise be lost. Horses will eat the leav- 
ings of horned cattle ; and sheep will eat some things that 
both the one and the other leave. 

" But if in a course of pasturing, by means of a fruitful 
year or a scanty stock of cattle, some grass of a good kind 
should run up to seed and not be eaten, it need not be re- 
gretted ; for a new supply of seed will fill the ground with 
new roots, which are better than old ones. And I know of 
no grass that never needs renewing from the seed. 

" A farmer needs not to be told, that if he turn swine into 
a pasture, they should have rings in their noses, unless 
brakes and other weeds need to be rooted out. Swine may 
do service in this way. They should never have the first of 
the feed ; for they will foul the grass, and make it distasteful 
to horses and cattle. 

" Let the stock of a farmer be greater or less, he should 
have at least four inclosures of pasture land. One inclosure 
may be fed two weeks, and then shut up to grow ; then 
another. Each one will recruit well in six weeks ; and each 
will have this space of time to recruit. But in the latter 
part of October, the cattle may range through all the lots, 
unless some one may become too wet and soft. In this case, 
it ought to be shut up, and kept so till feeding time the next 
year. 

" But that farmers may not be troubled with low miry pas- 
tures, they should drain them, if it be practicable, or can be 
done consistently with their other business If they should 
produce a smaller quantity of grass afterwards, it will be 
gweeter, and of more value. It is well known, that cattle 
fatted in a dry pasture have better tasted flesh than those 
which are fatted in a wet one. In the old countries it will 
fetch a higher price. This is particularly the case as to 
mutton. 

"Feeding pastures in rotation is of greater advantage than 
some are apt to imagine. One acre, n^anaged according to 
the above directions, will turn to better account, as some 
Bay who have practised it, than three acres in the common 
way. By the common way I would be understood to mean, 
having weak and tottering fences, that will drop of them- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 287 

selves in a few montlis, and never can resist the violence of 
disorderly cattle ; sutFcring weeds and buslies to overran the 
land ; keeping all the pasture land in one inclosure ; turn- 
ing in all sorts of stock together ; suffering the fence to 
drop down in autumn, so as to lay the pasture common to 
all the swine and cattle that please to enter ; and not putting 
up the fence again till the 1st. of May, or later. Such 
management is too cou)mon in all the parts of this country. 

" Land which is constantly used as pasture will be enrich- 
ed. Therefore it is advisable to mow a pasture lot once in 
three of four years, if the surface be so level as to admit of 
it. In the mean time, to make amends for the loss of pas- 
ture, a mowing lot may be pastured. It will thus be improv- 
ed : and if the grass do not grow so rank afterwards in the 
pasture lot, it will be more clear of weeds, and bear better 
grass. Alternate pasturing and mowing has the advantage 
of saving a good deal of expense and trouble in manuring 
the mowing grounds. 

"Though pastures need manuring less than other lands, 
yet. when bushes, bad weeds, &c. are burnt upon them, the 
ashes should be spread thinly over the surface. The grass 
will thus be improved : and grass seeds should be sown upon 
the burnt spots, that no part may be vacant of grass. 

" Sheep, calves, and horses, unless they are worked, it is 
said, require no water in their pastures. The want of water 
induces them to feed in the night, when the dew is on and 
the grass the more nutritious. Cows however want pure 
water. 

" In pastures which are on side-hills, water may generally 
be obtained by digging horizontally into the side of the hill, 
till it is found, and then carrying it out with a pipe." — 
Denne. 

" Three modes have been adopted in Great Britain for 
consuming clover and other herbage plants by pasturing. 
These are tethering, or fastening the feeding animal to a 
stake, hurdling, and free pasturage. In the ' Agricultural 
Report of Aberdeenshire,' it is stated, that there are some 
cases in which the plan of tethering can be practised with 
more profit than even soiling. In the neighbourhood of 
Peterhead, for instance, they tether milch cows on their 
grass fields, in a regular and systematic method, moving 
each tether forward in a straight line, not above one foot at a 
time, so as to prevent the cows from treading on the grass 
that is to be eaten ; care being always taken to move the 



288 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

tether forward, like a person cutting clover with a scythe, 
from one end of the field to the other. In this way, a great- 
er number of cows can be kept on the same quantity of grass 
than by any other plan, except where it grows high enough 
to be cut and given them green in houses. In one instance, 
the system was carried to great perfection by a gentleman 
who kept a few sheep upon longer tethers, following the 
cows. Sometimes also he tethered horses afterwards upon 
the same field, which prevented any possible waste, for the 
tufts of grass produced by the dung of one species of animal 
will be eaten by those of another kind without reluctance 
This mode was peculiarly calculated for the cow-feeders in 
Peterhead ; as, from the smallness of their holdings, they 
could not keep servants to cut or horses to carry home the 
grass to their houses, to be consumed in a green state. 

" In hurdling of!" clover or herbage crops, a portion of the 
field is inclosed by hurdles, [movable wooden fences,] in 
which sheep are confined, and as the crop is consumed the 
pen is changed to a fresh place, until the whole is fed off. 
This practice is very extensively adopted at Holkham [Eng.,] 
and is peculiarly calculated for light and dry soils. Its ad- 
vantages are, that the grass is more economically consumed; 
that the stock thrives better, having daily a fresh bite ; and 
that the dung which falls, being more concentrated, is more 
likely to be of use." — Loudon. 

Water should be provided for every field under pasture ; 
and also shelter and shade, either by «i few trees, or by a 
portable shed, which may be moved with the stock from one 
inclosure to another. Where there are no trees, rubbing 
posts are also a desirable addition. In Germany they have 
portable sheds which are employed both in summer and win- 
ter, and generally with a piece of rock-salt fixed to a post for 
the cattle to lick at will. 

Some graziers mix a few sheep and one or two colts in 
each pasture, which both turn to account, and do little in- 
jury to the grazing cattle. In some cases, we are told that 
sheep are beneficial to pastures, by eating down and de- 
stroying white weed, and some other useless and pernicious 
plants. 

So various is the appetite of animals, that there is scarcely 
any plant which is not chosen by some and left untouched 
by others. The following is said to be a fact, known and 
practised on by graziers in Holland. When eight cows have 
been in a pasture, and can no longer obtain nourishment, 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 289 

two horses will do very well there for some days, and when 
nothing is left for the horses, four sheep will live upon it ; 
this not only proceeds from their diflering in the choice of 
plants, but from the formation of their mouths, wliich are not 
equally adapted to lay hold of the grass. 

Stocking a pasture with as many sheep as it will support 
is recommended for forming a tender herbage, and causing 
the grass to mat or grow very thick at the bottom. 

An English writer says, "in turning out horses to grass in 
the spring, it is usual to choose the forenoon of a fine day to 
do it in ; the natural consequence is, the horse fills his belly 
during the sunshine, and lays down to rest during the ddd 
of the night, thereby probably exposing himself to disorders. 
In some parts of Yorkshire a better practice prevails : the 
horse is turned out at bed-time ; the consequence is, he eats 
all night, and sleeps in the sunshine of the next day," 



POULTRY, In order to have fine fowls, it is necessary 
to choose a good breed, and have a proper care taken of 
them. The Canton breed is thought highly of; and it is 
certainly desirable to have a fine large kind, but people differ 
in their opinion which is best. It is as important to cross 
the breeds of fowls as of other animals ; hence it is improper 
to save males and females from the same sittings of eggs, if 
they are to be kept for propagation. The black is very 
juicy ; but do not answer so well for boiling, as their legs 
partake of their color. They should be fed as nearly as pos- 
sible at the same hour and place. Potatoes boiled, unskin- 
ned, in a little water, and then cut, and either wet with 
skimmed milk or not, form one of the best foods. Turkeys 
and fowls thrive amazingly on them. The milk must not be 
sour. 

The best age for setting a hen is from two to five years ; 
and you should remark which hens make the best brooders, 
and keep those to laying who are giddy and careless of their 
young. In justice to the animal creation, however, it must 
be observed, there are but few instances of bad parents for 
the time their nursing is necessary. 

Hens sit twenty days. Convenient places should be pro- 
vided for their laying, as these will be proper for sitting like- 
wise. If the hen-house is not secured from vermin, the 
eggs will be sucked and the fowls destroyed. 
25 



290 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

Those hens are usually preferred which have tufts of 
feathers on their heads ; those that crow are not looked upon 
as prolitable. Some fine young fowls should be reared eve^ 
ry year, to keep up a stock ol' good breeders ; and by this 
attention, and removing bad layers and careless nurses, yoa 
will have a chance of a good stock. 

Let the hens lay some time before you set them, which 
should be done from the end of February to the beginning 
af May. While hens are laying, feed them well, and some- 
times with oats. 

Broods of chickens are hatched all through the summer, 
but those that come out very late require much care till they 
have gained some strength. 

If the eggs of any sort are put under a hen with some of 
her own, observe to add her own as many days after the 
others as there is difference in the length of their sitting, 
A turkey and duck sit thirty days. Choose large clear eggs 
to put her upon, and such a number as she can properly 
cover. If very large eggs, there are sometimes two yolks, 
and of course neither will be productive. Ten or twelve are 
quite enough. 

A hen-house should be large and high ; and should he 
frequently cleaned out, or the vermin of fowls will increase 
greatly. But hens must not be disturbed while sitting ; for 
if frightened, they sometimes forsake their ijests. Worm- 
wood and rue should be planted plenfifuUy about their 
houses ; boil some of the former, and sprinkle it about the 
floor, which should be of smooth earth not paved. The 
windows of the house should be open to the rising sun, and 
a hole must be left at the door, to let the smaller fowls go 
in ; the larger may be let in and out by opening the door. 
There should be a small sliding hoard to shut down when 
the fowls are gone to roost, which would prevent the small 
beasts of prey from committing ravages ; and a good strong 
door and lock may possibly, in some measure, j)revent the 
depredations of human enemies. 

When some of the chickens are hatched long before the 
others, it may be necessary to keep them in a basket of wool 
till the others come forth. The day after they are hatched, 
give them some cruml)s of white bread, and small (or rathe? 
cracked) grits soaked in milk. As soon as they have gained 
a little strength feed them with curd, cheese parings cut 
small, boiled corn, or any soft food, but nothing sour ; and 
give them clean water twice a day. Keep the hen under a 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 291 

pen till the young have strength to follow her ahout, which 
will he in two or three weeks, and be sure to leed her well. 

The food of fowls goes first into tlieir crop, which softens 
it ; and then passes into the gizzard, which by constant fiic- 
tion macerates it ; and this is facilitated by small stones, 
which are generally found there, and which help to digest 
the food. 

The pip in fowls is occasioned by drinking dirty water, or 
taking Hlthy food. A white thin scale on the tongue is the 
symptom. Pull the scale off with your nail, and rub the 
tongue with some salt ; and the complaint will be removed. 

It answers well to pay some boy employed in the farm or 
stal)le so much a hundred fir the eggs lie brings in. It will 
be his interest then to save them irom being purloined, which 
nobody but one in his situation can prevent ; and six or 
eight cents a hundred will be buying eggs cheap. 

To fatten Fowls or C'liif/cens in four or five Days. Set 
rice over the fire with skimmed milk, only as nmch as will 
serve one day. Let it boil till the rice is quite swelled out: 
you may add a tea-spoonful or two of sugar, but it will do 
well without. Feed them three times a day, in common 
pans, giving them only as much as will quite fill them at 
once. When you put fresh, let the pans be set in water, 
that no sourness may be conveyed to the fowls, as that 
prevents them from fattening. Give them clean water, or 
the milk of rice, to drink ; but the less wet the lattei is when 
perfectly soaked the better. By this method the fle.sh will 
have a clear whiteness which no other food gives ; and when 
it is considered how far a pound of rice will go, and how 
much time is saved by this mode, it will be f ;und ti> be 
cheap. The pen should be daily cleaned, and no f tod given 
for sixteen hours before poultry be killed. A proportion of 
aiiimal mixed with vegetable food is said to cause poultry to 
thrive ra[)idlv, but they should be confined to a vegetable 
diet for a fortnight or three weeks before they are killed for 
eating. A quantity of charcoal, broken in small pieces and 
placed within the reach of poultry, is said to increase their 
appetite, promote their digestion, and expedite (heir fat- 
tening. 

To chooae -Eirgs at Market and preserve lliem. Put the 
large end of the egg to your tongue ; if it feels warm it is 
new. In new-lai(| egjfs there is a small division of the skin 
from the shell, which is filled with air, and is perceptible to 
the eye at the end. On looking through them, against the 



292 THE COMPLETE FARRiER 

8un or a candle, if fresh, eggs will be pretty clear. If they 
shake they are not fresh. 

Eggs may be bought cheapest when the hens first begin 
to lay in the spring, before they sit ; in fall and winter tliey 
become dear. They may be preserved fresh by dipping 
them in boiling water and instantly taking them out, or by 
oiling the shell ; either of whicli ways is to prevent the air 
passing through it ; or kept on shelves, with small holes to 
receive one in each, and be turned every other day ; or close 
packed in the keg, and covered with strong lime-water.* 



BIRDS. The following remarks on shooting birds, &c., 
are from a communication, published in the " New England 
Farmer," Vol. IX., p. 338 ; — 

" It is a well-known fact, that the alarming increase of 
worms and insects in making ravages upon our Iruit-trees and 
fruit, not only paralyzes the efforts and disheartens the hopes 
of the cultivator, but threatens total destruction to many of 
the most delicious kinds. So extensive are their ravages 
that but very few of our apricots and plums ever ripen with- 
out premature decay from the worm generated by the beetles 
which surround our trees in the twilight of the evening in 
great numbers when the fruit is quite young. And when 
the produce of our apple, pear, or peach trees is small, but 
few of these escape the san»e fate. 

" I attribute the rapid and alarming increase of these 
worms and insects wholli/ to the diminution of those birds 
which fall a prey to our sportsmen, which are known to feed 
upon them, and for whose subsistence these insects were ap- 
parently created. 

" In addition to the important usefulness of these birds, 
their musical notes in the twilight of the morning arc 
peculiarly delightful ; awaking the cultivator to the sublime 
contemplation and enjoyment of all the infinite beauties of 
creation. 

" In vain will be all our toil and labor, in vain the united 
efforts of horticultural societies for increasing and perfecting 
the cultivation of the most delicious varieties of fruits, unless 

♦ For Tiratisps on Pimltry an 1 iheir difTerent vaiiptifi.a, see Fessenden's 
Mow lii;iv, pnl)lis!ind l)v I^illv and Wait, and New England Farmer, Vol. 
IX. p. 2.54, 278, 2i)3, 318, 341. 



ANU RURAL ECONOMIST. 29S 

we can increase, or al least cease to dimiiiish these useful and 
melodious birds. 

" It" we have a statute in this commonwealth providing for 
the protection of these birds, let us unite our eftbrls to arrest 
this wanton destruction of them by cnforcinf^ Ike penaUies of 
ilit law in every instance of its vioUiliun. Our Horticultural 
Society <ran scarcely do a greater service in promoting the 
objecis of its organization, ihan by making a spontaneous 
and vigorous effort to this effect. 

" II there be no statute for the protection of these invalua- 
ble creatures, I would earnestly, yet respectfully, suggest to 
the Horticultural Society the propriety and even necessity 
of their petitioning our legislature at their next session tor 
such an act. 

" It is a common practice with these sportsmen through 
the summer to range the groves and orchards in this vicm- 
ity, almost every pleasant day, and more numerously on 
holidays, and to shoot every bird that comes within their 
reach. 

" It is not however a small nor an easy task for one indi- 
vidual to get their names, residence, and the evidence neces- 
sary for their conviction ; but it requires the united effoits 
of all who are innnediately interested. Already have these 
sportsmen commenced their wanton destruction of these 
useful creatures, even heibre tiiey had time to build a nest 
for the rearing of their young. Birds that have survived the 
dreary winter in a more genial clime, having now returned 
to bless our efforts by their industry and to cheer our days 
with their melody, are scarcely peru)itted to commence tlieir 
vernal song, ere they must fall victims to a wanton iole- 
NEss that is as destitute of moral feeling as of useful employ- 
ment." 

The following was originally published in the Boston Pa- 
triot ; — 

" (Dii Birds and their Miforlunes. We have already inti- 
mated our opinion, that the labors of the scientific ornithol- 
ogist are of far more practical utility than the casual ob- 
server might suppose ; and that, even in the business of 
legislation, a regard to his researches might prevent many 
errors, which may nnich affect public welfare. The legisla- 
tion on the suliject of birds has been marked by some essen- 
tial errors, which have led to real evil. By the law of 1817, 
woodcocks, snipes, larks, and rol)bins, weie i)rntected at cer- 
tain seasons of the year, whilst war to the knife was de- 
25* 



S94 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

dared against crows, blackbirds, owls, blue-jays, and hawks; 
these last were treated as a sort of pirates, fcubject to sus- 
pension at the yard-arm with the least possible ceremony. 
It so happens, that the character of these very birds has been 
singularly mistaken ; for while the ordnance of legislation 
has been thus systematically levelled at them, they, on a 
principle which man would do extremely well to imitate, 
have been returning good for evil ; they have been diligently 
engaged in extirpating all sorts of vermin, while never were 
the vilest vermin half so ill-treated by the human race. The 
crow, for example, who is generally regarded as a most sus- 
picious character, has had great injustice done him. In the 
spring, when the ground is moist, he lives in a state of the 
most triumphant luxury on grubs ; he eats the young corn, 
it is true, but it is a necessary of life to which he never 
resorts except when his supply of animal food is shortened. 
After the corn is tolerably grown, he has nothing more to do 
with it ; and in«ny stage he destroys at least Hve hundred 
pernicious grubs and insects for every blade of corn which 
he pillages from man. In the southern states, he is regu- 
larly permitted to accompany the ploughman, and collects 
the grubs from the newly-opened iurrow ; his life is thu3 
secured by the safest of all tenures, that of the interest of 
man in permitting him to live. 

" There is scarcely a farm in England without its rookery; 
the humid atmosphere multiplies every species of insect, and 
those birds reward man for his forbearance by ridding him 
of legions of his foes. By a policy like that which dictated 
the revocation of the edict of IN antes, they have occasional- 
ly been exposed to the mischievous propensities of unruly 
boys, who, as far as utility is concerned, are not to be com- 
pared to crows ; but the error of this step soon became ob- 
vious, and they are now received with a universal welcome. 
The hawk enjoys a doubtful reputation in the hen-roost ; he 
Bometimes destroys the chickens, but with tiie consistency 
of man does not like to see his infirmities copied by an- 
other ; and by way of compensation demolishes the fox, 
which eats twenty chickens were he eats but one ; so that 
it is hardly the part of wisdom to set a price upon his head, 
while the fox, a hardened knave, is not honored with a penal 
statute. How the owl came to be included in this black 
list, it is difficult to conjecture ; he is a grave, reflecting 
bird, who has nothing to do with man, except to benefit him 
by eating weasels, foxes, raccoons, rats, and mice, a sin for 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 295 

wliich Tnost housekeepers will readily forgive him. In some 
parts of Europe he is kept in families, like the cat, whom 
he equals in patience and surpasses in alertness. Another 
of these birds, the blackbird, is tlie avowed enemy of grubs, 
like the crow ; in the middle states, the farmer knows the 
value of his company to pluck them from the furrow ; and 
while other less pains-taking birds collect the vermin from 
the surface, his investigations are more prof)und, and he 
digs to the depth of several inches in order to discover them. 
When the insects are no longer to be found, he eats the corn, 
as well he may, but even then asks but a moderate compen- 
sation for his former services. Five hundred blackbirds do 
less injury to the corn than a single squirrel. The last upon 
the catalogue of persecuted birds is the blue-jay. Whoever 
watches him in the garden will see him descend incessantly 
from the branches, pouncing every time upon the grub, his 
enemy and ours. 

" We have already seen, that the act to which we have 
referred protects some birds at certain seasons of the year ; 
among others, the robin, who lives on insects and worms, 
and has no taste for vegetable diet, and the lark, who is ex- 
tremely useful in his way. The only wonder is, that it 
should have been thought expedient to allow them to be shot 
in any season. The quail, another of the privileged class, 
has no title to be named in company with the others ; in the 
planting time, he makes more havoc than a regiment of 
crows, without atoning for his misdeeds by demolishing a 
sinofle grub. Nor is the partridge a much more scrupulous 
respecter of the rights of property ; though, as he lives in 
comparative retirement, he succeeds in preserving a better 
name for honesty. 

"There are some of our most familiar birds, of which a 
word may here be said. Every body has seen the little 
goldfinch on the thistle by the way-side, and wondered, per- 
haps, that his taste should lead him to so thorny a luxury ; 
but he is all this while engaged in devouring the seeds, 
which but for him would overrun the grounds of every far- 
mer. Even the bob-o'-link, a most conceited coxcomb, who 
steals with all imaginable grace, destroys millions of the 
insects which annoy the farmer mo.st. All the little birds, 
in fact, which are seen about the blossoms of the trees, are 
doing us the same service in their own way. 

" Perhaps there is no bird which is considered more decid- 
edly wanting in principle than the woodpecker ; and, cer- 



296 THE' COMPLETE FARMER 

tainly, so far as man is concerned, tliere is none nriore con- 
scientious. So long as a dead tree can be found for his nest, 
he will not trouble himself to bore into a living one ; what- 
ever wounds he makes upon the living are considered by 
foreign gardeners as an advantage to the tree. The sound 
tree is not the object ; he is in pursuit of insects and their 
larvae. In Soutli Carolina and Georgia, forests to a vast ex- 
tent hi'.ve been destroyed by an insect, which would seem as 
capable of lifting a tree as of destroying it. The people 
were alarmed by the visitation, and sagaciously laid the 
mischief at the door of the woodpecker, until they found 
that they had confounded the bailiff with the thief. 

"The injury arising front the loss of a single crop is hard- 
ly to be estimated. The experience which is taught us by 
our own misfortune is very dearly bought ; and we think 
that if we can derive it from others, — if, for example, we 
can learn from the ornithologist the means of preventing 
such injury, as in many instances we may, — the dictates of 
economy combine with those of taste, and warn us not to 
neglect the result of his researches." 

it was remarked by Colonel Powel, that " instead of being 
regaled by the whistling robin and chirping bluebird, busily 
ejjployed in guarding us from that which no human fore- 
sight or labor is enabled to aveit, our ears are assailed, our 
persons are endangered, our fences are broken, our crops are 
trodden down, our cattle are lacerated, and our flocks are 
disturbed by the idle shooter, regardless alike of the expen- 
sive attempts of the experimental farmer, or of the stores of 
the laboring husbandman ; whilst all the energies of his 
frame and the aim of his skill are directed towards the mur- 
der of a few little birds, worthless when obtained. The in- 
juries which are irmnediately committed by himself and his 
dogs are small, compared with the multiplied effects of the 
myriads of insects which would be destroyed by the animals 
whereof they are the natural prey." 



BUSHES. In many parts of our country, the pasture 
grounds are infested, and often overrun with noxious shrubs ; 
this is the most slovenly part of our husbandry, and ought 
to be cured. 

Eradicating them, says Deane, requires so much labor, 
that farmers are most commonly content with cutting them 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 297 

once in a few years. But the more cuttings they survive, 
the longer lived they are apt to he, and the harder to kill, 
as the roots continually gain strength. 

It is undoubtedly true, that cutting bushes in (he summer 
will do more towards destroying them than doing it in any 
other season, particularly in August. Other circumstances 
being equal, the wettest weather is best lor destroying shrubs 
by cutting. Spreading plaster on ground where bushes have 
been cut may tend to check their re-sprouting, by encourag- 
ing the growth of grass. 

It is said to be a good method of destroying bushes, to cut 
them with hoes close to the surface, when the ground is 
frozen hard ; and that more may be destroyed in a day in 
this way than in the usual method of cutting with a bush- 
scythe. 

Bushes which grow in clusters, as alder, &.c., may be ex- 
peditiously pulled up by o.\en ; and this is an effectual way 
to subdue them. 

Klder is considered harder to subdue than almost any 
other kind of bush ; mowing them five times in a season, it 
is said, will not kill them. The roots of the shrub-oak will 
not he killed but by digging them out. 

To destroy bushes in swamps, flooding two or three sum- 
mers is the most ap[)roved method. But if this is not con- 
venient, draining will so alter the nature of the soil, that the 
shrubs whicli it naturally produced before will not be any 
longer nourished by it ; and one cutting may be sufficient. 

After all, extirpation, by digging them out, and by tire, is 
cheapest and most effectual. — Farmer^s Guide. 



IRRIGATION. The following Essay, by Dr. Jeremiah 
Spofford, is from the "Transactions of the Essex Agricul- 
tural Society." 

" Some degree of knowledge of what constitutes the food 
of plants seems indispensable to any well-conducted .system 
of producing them in the greatest perfection ; and such 
knowledge seems most likely to be obtained by minutely ex- 
amining their structure, and carefully observing the manner 
of their growth. 

" Plants constitute one of the great divisions of organic 
life, and one formed or constituted by systems of fibres and 
vessels, and endowed with certain powers and appetences 



293 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

which place them at u greater remove above unorganized 
matter than they are below animal life ; and appropriate 
nourishment is elaborated, and a complete circulation is car- 
ried on, to the minutest extremity, in a manner extremely an- 
alogous to the circulation which is carried on in the arteries 
and veins of the most perfect animals ; and the apparent 
intelligence with which plants seek for nourishment, light, 
air, and support, appears in some instances to bear a strong 
resemblance to perception and knowledge ; and the circula- 
tion of fluids in the vessels of plants and animals appears to 
be carried on much on the same principles, and is perfectly 
involuntary in both. 

" Tiie indispensable agency of wa/er, in constituting the 
fluids, and carrying on the circulation in these systems of 
vessels, has been universally acknowledged ; and could not 
be overlooked by the most careless observer, while he saw 
innumerable instances in which plants wither and dry for 
want of this substance. But while this universal agency has 
been acknowledged, it is believed that a very inferior office 
has been assigned to it from that which it really performs. 
It has been considered as the mere vehicle which carried 
and deposited the nutritious particles of other substances, 
while it in reality was contributing nmch the largest portion 
of the actual nourishment to the plants which annually clothe 
our earth in living green. 

" If this idea is correct, then he who possesses water at 
his command with which to supply his plants at pleasure, or 
wlio has a soil adapted to attract and retain moisture in 
suitable quantities, possesses a mine of inexhaustible wealth, 
from which he can draw at pleasure, in proportion to his 
industry and his wants. 

" In proof of the abstract principle that water constitutes 
in a very large proportion the food of plants, I may be al- 
lowed to mention one or two accurate experiments of dis- 
tinguished philosophers upon the subject, which appear to 
me to be quite decisive on the case. 

" ' Mr. Boyle drit?d in an oven a quantity of earth proper 
for vegetation, and after carefully weighing it, planted in it 
the seed of a gourd ; he watered it with pure rain-water, and 
it produced a plant which weighed Iburteen pounds, though 
the earth producing it had suffered no sensible diminution.' 

" ' A willow tree was planted by Van Helm )nt in a pot, 
containing a thousand pounds of earth. . This plant was 
watered with distilled water or pure rain-water ; and the 



AND nURAL ECONOMIST. 299 

vessel so covered as to exclude all solid matter. At the end 
of five years, upon taking out the plant, he ibund it had in- 
creased in weight one hundred and nineteen pounds, though 
the earth had lost only two ounces of its original weight.' 

" The experiments of Mr. Cavendish and Dr. Priestley 
have sufii'jiently proved, that vegctahles have the power of 
dec-omposing water and converting it into such fluids as they 
need ifjr circulation in their own vessels ; and that they 
elaborate from this substance such juices and fruits as they 
are by nature calculated to produce. 

" The great cflect which is so frequently observed to 
follow the formation of ditches from the road-sides on to 
mowing-ground, is, no doubt, in part, to be attributed to the 
manure which is thereby washed on to the ground, but is 
also in part owing to the more copious supply of water which 
it thereby receives. 

"That pure water is capable of producing similar effects, 
I have the following experiments to prove : 

" Several years ago, when resident with my father on his 
farm at Rowley, I labored hard to divert a stream, which fell 
into a miry swamp, from its usual course across a piece of 
dry upland. The stream was pure spring-water, which is- 
sued between the hills about fil'ty rods above, running but 
just far enough to acquire the temperature of the atmos- 
phere, but without receiving any more fertilizing quality than 
was obtained in passing through a pasture in a rocky chan- 
nel ; the effect, however, was to double the quantity of 
grass. The same stream I again diverted from its course, 
about forty rods below, after it had filtered through a piece 
of swamp or meadow-ground, and with the same etTect ; and 
again, still lower down its course, I succeeded in turning it 
on to a piece of high peat-meadow, which had usually pro- 
duced but very little of any thing ; and the effect was, that 
more than double of tlie quantity of grass was produced, and 
that of a much better quahty. I was led to this latter ex- 
periment by observing, that a strip of meadow which natural- 
ly received the water of this run, and over which it spread 
for several rods in widtii without any particular channel, was 
annually much mure productive than any other part of the 
meadow. 

" But the best experiment, and on the largest scale of any 
which I have known, was made by my late father-in-law, 
deacon Eleazer Spoflord, then resident at JafTrey, New 
Hampshire. A letter from Rev. Luke A. SpofTord, in an- 



SOO THE COMPLETE FARMEU 

swer to my inquiry on this subject, observes : ' My father 
commenced the experiment as early as the year 1800, and 
continued it till 1820, or to the time when he sold his farm. 
The last ten years of his time he flashed perhaps twenty 
acres ; and it produced, I should think, twice as much in 
common seasons, and three times as much in dry seasons, as 
it would have done without watering. This land would 
hold out to yield a good crop twice as long as other land of 
the same quality,' (that is, I presume, without flowing.) 
• In dry weather he watered it every night, and the produce 
was good, very good.' 

" 1 atn acquainted with the lot of land which was the sub- 
ject of this experiment. It is a northern declivity, and rather 
a light and sandy soil, on the eastern bank of Contoocook 
river ; and the water used was that of the river, about one 
mile below its formation by the junction of two streams, one 
from a large pond of several hundred acres in Rindge, and 
the other a mountain stream, formed by innumerable springs 
issuing from the skirts of the Monadnock. 

" From the foregoing premises may we not conclude, that 
water performs a more important office in the growth and 
formation of plants than has generally been supposed ; and 
that it not only serves to convey nourishment, but that it is 
itself elaborated into nourishment, and thereby constitutes 
the solid substance .'' and we may further conclude, that eve- 
ry farmer should survey his premises, and turn those streams 
which now are often useless or hurtful on to lands where 
they are capable of diffusing fertility, abundance, and 
wealth. 

"It appears, further, that the immense fertility of Egypt 
is not so much owing to the alluvial deposit brought down 
by the annual inundation, as to the canals and reservoirs 
in which the waters are retained, to be spread over the 
lands during the succeeding drought, at the will of the cul- 
tivator. 

" If, according to the experiments of Boyle and Van Hel- 
mont, almost the whole food of plants is derived from water, 
then the principal use of the various manures is to attract 
moisture and stimulate the roots of plants to absorb and 
elaborate it ; and we have also reason to think that lands are 
much more injured and impoverished by naked exposure to 
heat and wind, and washing by water that runs oft' and is 
lost, than it is by producing abundant crops. 

" In the present state of population, nothing more could 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 301 

be expected or desired, than that every farmer shoiild make 
use of such means as the small streams in his vicinity may 
afford ; but in a densely peopled country, like Egypt in 
former ages, or China at present, it should doubtless be one 
of the first enterprises of a good government to take our 
large rivers above their falls and turn them off into canals 
for the benefit of agriculture." 



WOODLAND. Ground covered with wood or trees. 
They are mostly designed for fuel and timber. In felling 
them, care should be taken to injure the young growth as 
little as possible. Firewood, as well as timl)er, should be 
lelled when the sap is down ; otherwise it will hiss and fiy 
upon the fire, and not burn freely, although it should be ever 
so long dried. To thicken a forest, or to increase the num- 
ber of trees in a wood-lot, it should be well fenced, and no 
cattle be permitted to be in it. And something may be done, 
if needful, by layers and cuttings. — Deane. 

The practice of the populous nations of Europe, whose 
forests have been cut off centuries ago, and who are com- 
pelled to resort to measures of the strictest economy to sup- 
ply themselves with fuel, ought to have great weight with 
us. France, in an especial manner, ought to be looked up 
to for wise lessons on this subject. Her vast and thickly 
settled population, her numerous manufactures, her poverty 
in mineral coal, the eminence which she has attained in all 
economical arts, entitle her to great respect. It is the prac- 
tice of the French people not to cut off their woods oftener 
than once in twenty or twenty-five years, and by laio, when 
they are cut over, the owner is obliged to cut the whole 
smooth, with the exception of a very few trees, which the 
oflicers of the government had marked to be spared for 
larger growth. Without giving any opinion as to the pro- 
priety of the direct interference of the government on such 
a topic, we should say that the exam])le proves, that in the 
opinion of the French scientific and practical men, it is ex- 
pedient when woodlands are cut that they should be cut 
smooth, in order that the new growth might start together, 
not overshaded by other trees of larger growth. We have 
no favorable opinion of the utility of cutting down trees in a 
scattered manner, as they appear to fail, and still less of 
26 



902 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

planting acorns in thinner spots of the forest. The growth 
thus produced must remain lor ever leehle. — Lowell. 

A vahiabie paper by the Hon. John VVelles, in " The 
Massacliusetts Agricultural Repository," recommends cut- 
ting bard-wood trees between forty arid fifiy years of age ; 
and the writer states, that "though trees may shoot up in 
height by standing longer, yet the period of the most rapid 
vegetation is mostly over, and by this means much of the 
iinder-growth is necessarily destroyed." Mr. Welles is of 
opinion, that in cutting over a wood-lot to obtain fuel, it is 
best to take the whole growth as you proceed. He observes, 
that " we have been condemned as evincing a want of taste 
in cutting off our forests without leaving what it would t.ike 
half a century to produce, — a shade near where it is pro- 
posed to erect buildings. The fact is, that trees of original 
growth have their roots mostly in the upper stratum of earth, 
and near the surface. A tree acts upon its roots and is act- 
ed upon by the wind, sustaifiing in common with the whole 
foiest the force of this element, and it becomes accommo- 
dated or naturalized to its pressure. But when left alone or 
unsustained, it is borne down by the first gale, often to the 
injury of property and even of life." The " Farmer's Assis- 
tant" likewise says, " if woods are ok! and decaying, the bet- 
ter way is to cut all off, as you want to use the wood, and 
let an entire new growth start up, which will grow more 
rapidly," 



INSECTS. It would far transcend our limits to give 
even a brief description of the various sorts of insects which 
injure gardens, cultivated fields, &c., and destroy the best 
productions of our soil. We shall, therefore, confine our- 
selves to stating, briefly, some of the most approved modes 
of counteracting the ravages and efiecting the destruction 
of a few of those which are most injurious to the cultivator. 

The preventive operations are those of the best culture, 
in the most extensive sense of the term, including what re- 
lates to choice of seed or plant, soil, situation, and climate. 
If these are carefully attended to, it will seldom happen that 
any species of insect will effect serious and permanent inju- 
ry. Vegetables which are vigorous and thrifty are not apt 
to be injured by worms, flies, bugs, &c. Fall ploughing, by 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 303 

exposing woiins, frruhs, the larvte of bugs, beetles, 8ic. to 
the intense frosts of onr winters, is very beneficial. Insects 
may be annoyed, and oltentiines their cotnplete destruction 
effected, by sprinklin<» over them, by means of a syringe, 
watering-pot, or garden engine, simple water, soap-suds, 
tobacco-uater, decoctions of elder, especially of the dwarf 
kind, of walnut leaves, bitter and acrid herbs, pepper, lye 
of wood ashes, or solutions of pot and pearl-a&hes, water 
inipregnated with salt, tar, turpentine, &.c. ; or they may 
be dusted with sulphur, qnicklime, and other acrid sub- 
stances. Loudon says, " Saline substances, mixed with wa- 
ter, are injurious to most insects with lender skins, as the 
worm and slug ; and hot water, where it can be applied 
without injuring vegetation, is equally, if not more power- 
fully, injurious. VValer heated to one hundred and twenty 
or one hundred and thirty degrees will not injure plants 
whose leaves are expanded, and in some degree hardened ; 
and water at two hundred degrees or upwaids may be 
poured over leafless plants. The effects of insects may also 
be palliated on one species of plant by presenting to them 
another which they prefer : thus wasps are s.iid to prefer 
carrots, the berries of the yew, and the honey of the Jkm a, 
to grapes ; honey, or sugared water, t(i ripe fruit, and so on. 
Ojie insect or animal may also be set to eat another ; as 
ducks for slugs and wurms, tui keys for the same purpose, 
and cater|)illars and ants for aphides, and so on." 

The Rev. Mr. Falconer, one of the correspondents of 
^' The Bath Agricultural Society," strongly recofnuiends 
soap-suds, both as a manure and antidote against insects. 
He observes, that " this mixture of an oil and an alkali lias 
been more generally known than adopted as a remedy 
against the insects which infest wall fiuit-trees. It will dis- 
lodge and destroy the insects which have already Ibrmed 
their nests and bred among the leaves. When used in tlie 
early part of the year, it seems to prevent the insects iioia 
settling upon them." He prefers soap-suds to lime-water, 
because lime soon " loses its causticity, and with that its 
elHcacy, by exposure to air, and must, consequently, be 
frequently applied ; and to ths dredging of the leaves witli 
the line dust of wood ashes and lime, because the same 
efiect is produced by the mixture, without the same hil)or, 
and is obtained without any expense." He directs to make 
use of a common garden-pump for s|)ri!ikling trees with 
soap-suds, and says, if the water of a washing cuimot be had. 



304 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

a quantity of potash dissolved in water may be substituted ; 
and that the washing ot* the trees with soap-suds twice a 
week, for three or iour weeks in the spring, will be suffi- 
cient to secure them from aphides, &c. 

Other modes of counteracting the effects of insects are 
pointed out, in treating of the plants which are most liable 
to be injured by them. We shall, however, make some re- 
marks on a few of those which are most common and injuri- 
ous to the interests f>f the cultivator. 

Canker-wonn. We shall not attempt to give eitiier a de- 
scription, or the natural history of the canker-worm, but 
refer to Prof Peck's Memoir on the subject, originally 
published in " The Massachusetts Agricultural Repository," 
and direct our attention exclusively to the remedies which 
have been used or suggested to preserve fruit-trees from 
this formidable enemy. 

The female of this insect comes out of the ground late in 
the fall, early in the spring, or, sometimes, dyring a period 
of mild, open weather in winter. Those which rise in 
autumn or in winter are less numerous than those which as- 
cend in spring ; but, being very prolific, they do much inju- 
ry. One methid of preventing the ravages of the worm is, 
to bar the ascent of the females up the stem of the tree. 
This has generally been attempted by tarring, of which 
there are several modifications : 

1. A strip of linen or canvas is put round the body of 
the tree, before the females begin their ascent, and vyell 
smeared with tar. The insects, in attem;,ting to pass this 
barrier, stick last and perish. But this process, to complete 
the desired effect, must be commenced about the 1st of No- 
vember, and the tarring continued, when the weather is mild 
enough to permit the worms to emerge iVom the ground, till 
tlie latter end of May, or till the time of their ascent is past. 
It is necessary to fill the crevices in the bark with clay mor- 
tar, before the strip of linen dv canvas is put on, that the 
insects may not pass under it. Having put on the strip, 
which should be at least three inches wide, draw it close, 
fasten the ends together strongly, then tie a thumb-rope of 
tow round the tree, close to the lower edge of the strip. The 
design of this is, to prevent the tar from rtinning down the 
bark of the tree, which would injure it. It should be 
renewed in moderate weather, once a day, without fail. The 
best time is soon after sunset, because the insects are wont 
to pass up in the evening, and the tar will not harden so 
much in the night as the day. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 305 

2. Another mode of tarring is, to take two pretty wide 
pieces of board, plane tlieia, make scuiicircular uotciiea 
in each, fitting them to the stem or body ol" the tree, 
cind J'usten them toj^ether securely at tlic ends, «o that the 
most violent storms may not displace them. The crevices 
betwixt the boards and the tree may be easily sto[)pfd witli 
rags or tow ; then smear the under sides of the boards with 
tar. 'J'he tar, being del'ended from the direct ravs of the 
sun, will hold its tenacity the longer, and, therefore, i eed 
not be frequently renewed. The trees in this way will be 
le^s liable to be injured by the drippings ol' tar, by leaving 
a margin of two or three inches on tliose |)aits ot the boards 
which are next to the trees, to which no tar is applied. 

3. A gentleman informs us, that in Plymouth, Massachu- 
setts, they make use of the follow ng mixture as a substitute 
for tar in preserving fruit-trees against canker-w<irms, viz. 4 
White varni-h, soft soa[), and whale oil, one-third of each to 
be mixed and ap|)lied as tar is usually. This mixture is not 
soon hardened l)y the weather, and does n()t injure tjie trees. 
Another simple mode of preventing the ascent of the insects 
is, to wind a band of refuse ilax or swit\gle-tow round the 
tree, and stick on the band burdock or chestimt burs, set so 
closely together that worms cannot pass between them. 

Th« " JNIassachusetts Agricultural Repository," (Vol. 
III. No. 4,) contiiins some remarks on the canker-worm, by 
(he Hon. John Lowell, president of " The Massachusetts 
Agricultural Society," from which the following is ex- 
tracted : 

" I had the turf dug in around sixty apple-trees, and the 
earth laid smooth. I tlien took tin-ee h>gsheads of vjftle, or 
air-slacked lime, and strewed it an iocli thick round my 
trees, to the extent of two or three feet (Vom the roots, so 
that the whole diameter of the opening was from four to six 
feet. 

" I tarred these trees, as well as the others, and althonghi 
I had worms or grubs on most that were not limed, I did not 
catch a single grub where the trees were limed. 

" I do not speak with conlidence. I am, however, strong- 
ly encouraged to believe the remedy perfect. It was as- 
certained by Professor Peck, that the insect seldom descend- 
ed into the ground at a greater distance than thiee or four 
feet from the trunk, and to the depth of four inches, or that 
(he greater part come within that distance. The lime is 
known to be destructive of all animal substances, and 1 have 
26* 



S06 THE COMPLETE FAKMER 

little doubt, that it actually decomposes and destroys the 
insect in the chrysalis state ; at least, I hope that this is the 
case. 

" There are many reasons which should encourage a repe- 
tition of this experiment. The digginjf round the trees ia 
liighly useful to them, while tarring is very injurious. The 
expense is not great. A man can dig round fifty trees in 
one day. The iirne is a most salutary manure to the tree. 
After the spot has been once opened and limed, the labor 
of keeping it open will not be great. Three hogsheads of 
air-slacked lime, or the sweepings of a lime-store, will suf- 
fice fur fifty trees, and will cost three dollars. As it is done 
but once a year, I think it cannot be hall" so expensive as 
tarring. 

" I repeat it, that I mention my experiments with great 
diffidence, as being the first of my own knowledge. It may 
induce several persons to try it in different places, and where 
trees are surrounded with others which are treated different- 
ly. All I pray is, that it may prove successful and relieve 
us from this dreadful scourge, which defaces our country, 
while it impoverishes and disappoints the farmer." 

The remedies proposed by Professor Peck were, 1st. Turn- 
ing up the ground carefully, in October, as far as the 
branches of a tree extend, to half a spade's depth, or five 
inches, so as completely to inveit the surface. A great 
number of chrysalids would thus be exposed to the air and 
6un, and of course destroyed. 2dly. Breaking the clods, 
and smoothing the surface with a rake, and passing a heavy 
roller over it, so as to make it very hard, and without cracks. 
In grass grounds the sods should be turned with the grass 
side down, and placed side by side, so as to be rolled. The 
winter's frosts would heave and crack a smooth surface, but 
it might be smoothed and hardened by the roller, or by other 
means, in March, with much less trouble, time, and expense, 
than rolling requires. As lime, when slacked, is reduced to 
an impalpable powder, and is thus well adapted to close the 
openings in the surface, Mr. Peck is inclined to think its 
good effects are produced this way as well as by its caustic 
qualities. — Thacher's Orchardist, p. 93. 

John Kenrick, Esq., of Newton, Massachusetts, propos- 
ed, between the time in June after the worms bad disappear- 
ed and the 'SOtb of October, to take the whole of the soil 
surrounding the trees, to the extent at least of four feet from 
the trunk, and to a suitable depth, and cart it away to a dis- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST, 307 

tance from any trees which the canker-worms are in the 
liabit ol" feeding on ; and returning an equal quantity ofcoai- 
post or rich earth intermixed with in;inure. 

A writer for "The New England Farmer," (Vol. III. p, 
327,) states a case ot' an orchard having been preserved 
from canker-worms by means ol" a large number of locust- 
trees, equal to about double the number of a|)|ile-trees. 

Mr. Roland Howard, of Easton, Massachusetts, observes, 
(New England Farmer, Vol. IV. p. .i91,) that " a quantity 
of lime was collected tiom the sweepings of a lime-store, 
and spread on the ground around a certain apple-tree, some 
time in the month of iMovember ; (the foliage of which tree 
had been destroyed by the canker-worm the preceding sum- 
mer ;) the ground iieing in a pulverized state, the lime was 
spread as far from the trunk oi'tlie tree as the drippings from 
the branches extended : the etfect was stated to be the entire 
disappearance of the worm, and an increased vigor of the 
tree." The same writer observes, that "moving the earth 
with a plough or hoe, late in November, or beginning of 
December, has been found very elHcacious in destroying 
them." This last mentioned remedy, if it will always prove 
efficient, will probably be tiie cheapest and most expedient. 
But the worm must be capable of enduring a considerable 
degree of cold, or unerrmg instinct would not lead it from 
its d )rmitory in November (as it frequently does) to brave 
the rigors of winter on the stem or branches of the tree. 
We are inclined to believe, as well as to hope, that the ap- 
plication of lime, as above stated, will prove effectual ; and 
if so, it will probably be preferable to any mode of applying 
tar, or attacking the enemy above gnnind. 

When the insects have ascended, their numbers may be 
lessened by jarring or shaking the body or limbs of the tree, 
causing tliem to suspend themselves by tiie threads which 
they spin from their bodies, and striking them off with a 
stick. It is said, that those which thus fall to the earth do 
not rise again. Whether they would be able to resist the 
effects of a sprinkling with soap-suds, saline or bitter infu- 
sions, &C., is more than we can say ; but we wish their 
powers might be tested, by showering them with those mix- 
tures which are found to be the best antidotes against other 
insects. 

Caleiyillar. "This is one of the worst enemies to an 
orchard when neglected ; but easily destroyed by a little at- 
tention. In the spring, when the nests arc small and the 



308 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

insects young and tender, they never venture abroad in the 
early part of the day, when the dew is on the trees, or in 
bad weather ; they may then be eflectually destroyed by 
crushing them in the nest. This attention, continued a short 
time every spring, will destroy tho?e in existence, and will 
prevent their increase in future years : if left till grown 
strong, they wander liom their nesis, and cannot be etleclu- 
allv overcome without great trouble and expense." — Coxe, 
on Fruit- Trees. 

The Hon. Timothy Pickering, in a letter to the corre- 
sponding secretary of " The IViassachusetts Agricultural 
Society," has recommended an implement for the destruc- 
tion of caterpillars. It is made by inserting some hog's 
bristles between twisted svires, in such a manner as to form 
a cylindrical brush, which will |)resent bristles on every 
side. This is attached to a pole, of such length as the trees 
may require, and the caterpillars are brought down by it, 
and then crushed. Other methods have been proposed, 
such as casting over the tree a few handfuls of ashes, in the 
morning, betbre the dew is dissipated tiom the foliage, or 
after a shower of rain. A strong whitewash of fresh stone- 
lime, applied by tlie means of a n)op, or sponge, fixed to the 
end of a pole, strong soap-suds, spirits of turpentine, a little 
oil of any kind, particularly blubber oil, are likewise fatal 
to the insects. But, peihaps, the most effectual remedy is 
the hand, by which the insects may easily be removed at an 
early stage ; but if this be neglected, it is thought that the 
next best remedy is the use of Colonel Pickering's brush, as 
al)ove. In ajjplying either of these remedies, care must be 
taken to choose that part of the day when the caterpillars 
are in their nests. They rarely quit them till nine o'clock, 
and generally return to them again about twelve. 

Cnrculio. This is a small bug, or beetle, which perfo- 
rates the young iVuit of the pear, apple, and all stone iVuits, 
and deposits its eggs in them. The eggs soon hatch, and a 
small maggot is produced, which feeds either on the pulp of 
the fruit, or on the kernel of the seed ; for the tastes and 
habits of the different species are not similar. In the stone 
fruits, this injury destroys their growth, and they fall, with 
the little enemy within them. The insect retreats into the 
earth, and passes the winter in the chrysalis state, and comes 
forth just as the young fruit is forming, or the petals of the 
flowers are falling, to renew its mischievous labors. This 
insect continues its depredations from the 1st of May until 



AND ni'RAI- ECONOMIST. 309 

autumn. Dr. James Tilton, of Wilmington, Delaware, in 
an article on this subject, published in the Aiueiican editions 
of" Willich's Domestic Encyclopedia," observes, that "our 
fruits, C' lleciively estimated, must thereby be depreciated 
more than half their value ; " and adds, in his directions for 
destroying the insect, "all the domestic animals,' if well 
directed, contribute to this purpose. Hogs, in a special 
manner, are qualified for the work of extermination. In 
large orchards, care should be taken, that the str.ck of hogs 
is sufficient to eat up ail the early fruit which falls Irnm May 
till August. This precaution will be more especially neces- 
sary in large peach orchards ; for otherwise, when the hogs 
become cloyed with the pulp of the peach, they will let it 
fall out of their mcutlis, and content -themselves with the 
kernel, which they like better ; and thus the curculio, 
escaping from their jaws, may hide under ground till ne.\t 
spring." 

" The ordinary fowls of a farm-yard are great devourers 
of beetles. Poultry in general are regaided as carnivorous, 
in the summer, and iheref >re cooped some time before they 
are eaten. Every body knows with what- avidity ducks 
seize on the tumble-bug, {scaraboeiis carnifex,) and it is prob- 
able, the curculio is regaided by all fowls as an equally de- 
licious morsel. 1 herelbre it is, that the smooth stone Iruiis, 
particularly, succeed much better in lanes and yaids, where 
poultry run without restraint, than in gardens and other in- 
closur»'s, where fowls are excluded." 

Instead of turning swine into orchards, to pick up the 
fruit which falls, and thus destroy the worms which it con- 
tains, it will often be lijurid most expedient to gather such 
fruit, and give it to swine in pens, iic, either raw, or, what 
•would be better, boiled. If such measures were generally 
taken with fruit which falls spontaneously, as to prevent the 
insects, which generally cause it to drop prematurely, from 
escaping into the ground, the worms, which destroy one half 
our fruit, and very much deteriorate a considerable part of 
the other half, would soon be extirpated from our orchards 
and fruit-gardens. 

Jlpliis, Plant-louse, Puccron, or Vinc-freller. " This genus 
of insects comprises many species and varieties, which are 
so denominated from the plants they infest. The males are 
winged, and the females witln ut wings ; they are viviparous, 
producing their young alive, in the spring ; and also ovipa- 
rous, laying eggs in autumn. Water, dashed with force 



310 THE COMPI,ETE FARMER 

from a syrln<z;e, [or iiardcn engine,] will prove as destructive 
to them as any tlunjj;, vvlien on trees ; and smaller plants 
may be washed witli iiitie-waler, with tobacco-water, with 
elder leaves, inl'used in water, or with connnon soap-suds, 
any ot" which will destroy the insects." — Lo?ic/o/i. "Tie 
up some Hour of sulphur in a piece of muslin, or fine linen, 
and with this the leaves ol' young shoots or plants should be 
dusted, or it may be thrown on them by means of a conunon 
swan's-down puH', or even a dredging box. Sulphur has also 
been found to protnote the health of plants, on which it was 
si)rinkled, and that peach trees, in particular, were remark- 
ably improved by it." — Domestic Eiici/clopcdia. " In 
green-houses, they are readily destroyed by the smoke of 
tobacco, or of sulphur ; but in the open air, fumigation, 
though nmch in vogue many years since, is of no avail. 
The best remedy is the simplest. Soap-suds, forcibly ap- 
plied, will, alter one or two applications, effectually destroy 
them, without apparent injury to the plant." — Deane. 

A writer for " The New England Farmer," (Vol. III. p. 
9,) after staling a number of experiments with soap-suds, for 
destroying aphides, which were unsuccessful, or but partial- 
ly succeeded, says, " I was led to conclude, that it is not 
suflicient to wet the upper side of the leaves, thinking to 
make them disagreeal)le or poisonous to the insect, but that 
they must be well drenched or inunersed in the suds. I 
therefore applied again the same lemedy ", but with tliis dif- 
ference, — instead of sprinkling the u|)|)er side of the 
branches,! carried a pailful of suds iVom tree to tree, and, bend- 
ing the tops of small trees, and the branches of larger ones, 
immersed all the paits infested with lice, holding thetn in the 
liquor for a moment, that none might escape being well wet. 
On examining the trees, the next day, the greater part of the 
lice were destroyed. It was found necessary to repeat the 
same process once or twice, with suds not too weak, 
say about two or three ounces of soap to a gallon of 
water." Another writer in tlie same paper, (p. 10,) says, 
"I have applied soap-suds to my apple-trees, in order to 
kill ihe lice. It will be sufficient for me to say, that just 
sprinkling them with suds will not kill them ; neither will 
dipping tbe branches which are infested with them kill them. 
But dipping and holding them in, as long as I can con- 
veniently hold my breath, will destroy every one. The suds 
do not appear to injure the leaves, I tried suds made on 
purpose, and suds which had been used for family washing. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 311 

Tlie latter answers the purpose much the best." It is pos- 
sible to iiKike soap-suds so stronjr as to kill the tender 
branches, as well as the insects which infest them. The 
proportion above mentioned, ol" two or three ounces of soap 
to a gallon of water, is probably most advisable. 

Cul-ii'onn. 'Jhis is an ash-colored worm, with a stripe al- 
most black on its back. When fuliy grown, it is about the 
size of a goosequill, and about an inch and a quarter in 
length. They are very apt to cut ofTyoung cabbages, cauli- 
flowers, beets, &c. They never voluntarily appear on the 
surface of the ground in the day time, but may be Ibund 
about an inch below it. In the night they make their ex- 
cursions, cut off the stems of young plants, just at the top o{ 
the ground, and again bury themselves. 

Dr. Deane observed, '• I once prevented their depreda- 
tions in my garden, by manuring the soil with sea-mud, 
newly taken from the flats. The plants generally escaped, 
though every one was cut ofl' in a spot of ground that lies 
contiguous. From the success of this experiment, I con- 
clude that salt is very offensive or pernicious to them. Lime 
and ashes, in some measure, prevent their doing mischief; 
but sea-water, salt, or brine, would be more eflectual anti- 
dotes. 'J'he most effectual, and not a laborious remedy, 
even in field-culture, is to go round every morning, and open 
the earth at the foot of the plant, and you will never fail to 
find the worm at the root within four inches. Kill him, and 
you will save not only the other plants of your field, but, 
probably, many thousands in future years." 

There is some danger, in making use of salt, brine, or 
sea-water, of injuring the plants in attempting to destroy 
insects ; and we should, tlierefore, generally prefer decoc- 
tions of elder, walnut leaves, or tobacco. Mr. Preston, of 
Stockport, Pennsylvania, preserved his cabbage-plants from 
cut-worms by wrapping a hickory-leaf round the stem, be- 
tween the roots and leaves. — JVeiii England Farmer, 
Vol. HI. p. 369. The Hon. Mr. Fiske, 'of Worcester, 
Massachusetts, in speaking of this insect, says, "To search 
out the spoiler, and kill him, is the very best course ; 
but as his existence is not known except by his ravages, I 
make a fortress for my plants with paper, winding it conical- 
ly and firmly above the root, and securing it by a low em- 
bankment of earth." — JYeio England Farmer, Vol. IV. 
p. 362. 

Lice on apple-trees. There is a species of insect infesting 



312 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

apple-trees which may be st}'!e<l t!ie bark louse, to distin- 
guish it from the pla7it luuse, or aphis. It is, in fortii, like 
hair a kernel of rye, but much smaller, with the flat side 
sticking to the bark of the tree. Jesse Buel, Esq., of Alba- 
ny, gives the following statement of bis mode of destroying 
them : " In June last, 1 observed directions in ' The New 
England Farmer,' for destroying the parasitic enemy ; and, 
that l)eing the particular time to make the application, I im- 
mediately set about it. For this purpose, I took eight parts' 
of water and two of soft soap, and mixed with these lime 
enough to make a thick whitewash. With a whitewash and 
paint brush I put this ui)on the trunks and limbs of trees, as 
high as was practicable, filling the cracks in the bark, and 
covering the whole surface. The effect has been, not only 
to destroy most of the lice, but to give the trees an improved 
and vigorous appearance. The outer bark, which, from a 
stinted growth, had become rough and hard, has, in a meas- 
ure, fallen otT in flakes, and disclosed a soft, smooth bark, 
the sure indication of health." 

Apple-tree Borer. [Saperda bivitata.) The scientific de- 
scription of this very pernicious insect is thus given by Pro- 
fessor Say, of Philadelphia : " Hoary ; above, light-brown, 
with two broad white fillets. Inhabits the United States. 
Bodij, white ; eyes, fuscous ; a small spot on the vertex, and 
another behind each eve, light-brown ; aidennce, moderate, 
slightly tinged with bluish ; thorax, light-brown, with two 
broad, white lines, approaching before ; elytra, light-brown, 
irregularly punctured ; a broad, white, longitudinal line on 
each, nearer to the suture than to the outer edge. Length, 
from one-half to seven-tenths of an inch. A very pretty in- 
sect. In the Jarvaj state, it is very injurious to the apple- 
tree, boring into the wood." — Journal of the Academy of 
Sciences, Phil., Vol. III. p. 409. 

Professor Say, in a letter to Jesse Buel, Esq., says, " You 
state that it leaves the pupa, and becomes perfect, in the lat- 
ter part of April, and that the eggs are deposited beneath 
the surface of the soil. These two circumstances ascertain- 
ed, I would recommend the application, early in May, or 
the latter part of April, of common bricklayer's mortar, 
around the base of the tree, so as to cover completely the 
part, and its immediate vicinity, where the deposit is made. 
This preventive was successfully employed by Mr. Shotwell 
against the attacks of the peach-tree insect, (see ' Ameri- 
can Farmer,' Vol. VI, p. 14,) and I see no reason why it 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 313 

should not be equally efficacious in the preservation of the 
apple-tree." — Memoirs of the JVew York Board of Agri- 
culture, Vol. III. p. 479. 

The " Massachusetts Agricultural Repository," (Vol. V. 
p. 360,) contains a paper on this insect, by John Prince, 
Esq., by which it appears, that worms of this kind are got 
rid of by "digging round the tree, and clearing away the 
""••th to the roots, and then, with a sharp-pointed knife, a 
*el, or a gouge, and a small wire to probe, if they are 
^tjep in the tree, they may easily be destroyed." After tak- 
ing out the worms, the wounds should be covered over with 
grafting-clay and a large proportion of dry wood ashes 
mi.xed, and the earth then returned to the tree. The process 
for cleansing the trees from borers should be performed in the 
spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground, or at least 
before the month of June, as the perfect insect escapes be- 
fore that time. 

Slug-worm, or JVaked Snail. These reptiles appear on 
the leaves of fruit-trees in the month of July. Professor 
Peck has ascertained that they are the progeny of a small 
black fly, which deposits its eggs in the leaf in the months 
of May and June. They may be destroyed by means of 
lime, sprinkled over the leaves in the form of powder. For 
this purpose, a wooden box, of convenient size, having its 
bottom perforated with numerous small holes, is to be filled 
with lime. This being mounted on a' pole and shaken over 
the tree, distributes the lime among the leaves, and the slugs 
are immediately destroyed. The labor is very trivial ; a 
man may cover a large tree in three or four minutes ; and 
the desired efl^ect is certain. Fine earth shaken through a 
basket or perforated box will answer as well. 

" Another remedy, it is said, will prove equally effectual. 
It is a strong infusion of tar, made by pouring water on tar, 
and suffering it to stand two or three days, when it becomes 
strongly impregnated. This, if sprinkled over the leaves by 
means of an engine, will kill these vermin instantaneously. 
A strong decoction of tobacco will probably produce the de- 
sired effect, and tanner's bark put round the tree, it is said, 
will have a salutary tendency as a preventive." — Thachcr's 
Orchardist. 

Forsyth recommends watering the ground where these in- 
sects are with soap-suds and urine, mixed with tobacco- 
water. Ducks admitted into a garden will destroy all within 
their reach. 

27 



SI 4 THE COMPLETE FARMER AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 

Wire-worm, or Red-worm. This insect is slender, and 
usually about an inch long, with a hard coat, and a pointed 
head. Mr. William Moody, of Saco, (Maine,) in a commu- 
fiication to Hon. Josiah Quincy, published in " The Massa- 
chusetts Agricultural Repository," (Vol. IV. p. 353,) ob- 
serves, " 1 am persuaded, from experience, that sea-sand, 
put under corn or potatoes with manure, or spread on the 
land, will go far, if not wholly, to the total destruction of 
these destructive worms, on which nothing else seems to 
have any effect. It has a beneficial effect spread on land 
before ploughing, or even after land is planted with corn or 
potatoes, not only to destroy the wire-worm and other in- 
sects, but to increase the crop. With my neighbours, a 
load of sea-sand is considered as preferable to a load of the 
best manure, to mix in with their common barn manure, or 
to spread on their gardens and low flat land." 

Probably sea-mud or sea-water would produce good ef- 
fects as preservatives against this and other insects. 

Soaking seed corn in a solution of copperas in water, has 
been found effectual against this insect. See page 30 of this 
work. 

The Striped Bug, or Yelloiv Fly. This is a small insect 
of the coleoptcra order, or such as have crustaceous elytra, or 
wing cases, like the beetle. The elytra of this bug are 
striped with yellow and black. They prey on the young 
plants of cucumbers, melons, squashes, and others of the 
cucurbitacece species. " These insects may be considerably 
thinned by killing them in a dewy morning, when they have 
not the free use of their wings, and cannot well escape. But 
nothing that I have tried has proved so effectual as sifting or 
sprinkling powdered soot upon the plants when the morning 
dew remains on them. This forms a bitter covering for the 
plants, which the bugs cannot endure the taste of." — 
Deane. " We would recommend sprinkling the plants with 
a little sulphur or Scotch snuff." — Farmer^s Assistant. 
But the surest defence against these insects is, inclosing the 
plants with a frame, and a muslin or gauze covering. 

For able and scientific descriptions of most of the insects 
which infest our fields and gardens, we would refer to a 
" Discourse delivered before the Massachusetts Horticul- 
tural Society, by Thaddeus W. Harris," published in 
" The New England Farmer," Vol. XI. p. 204, and fol- 
lowing pages. 




AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 



It was remarked by Sir John Sinclair, that the introduction of new 
agricultural implements into a district is often a matter of the g^reatest 
difficulty, owing to the ignorance, the prejudice, and obstinacy of farm 
servants and laborers. Many tarmers, therefore, very absurdly retain 
their old iinpletnents, though convinced of their inferiority, ratlier than 
sour the tempers of tiicir laljurers by attempting to introduce new ones ; 
in nianj' cases however they have succeeded by attention and persever- 
ance, and by rewarding Iheir laborers many new and valuable iiiij)le- 
ments have been brought into general use. 

The farmers of A'ew England are too enlightened, and have too much 
regard for their own best interest, to be under the dominion of such prof- 
itless prejudices. Accordingl}', we find not only a very increasing de- 
mand for new and improved agricultural machines, tools, &c., but that 
our practical farmers see that it for their interest to procure the best. 

The Agricultural Warehouse and Seed Store, in Boston, 51 and M 
North Market Street, Jos. Breck & ('o. proprietors, has become so exten- 
sive and of so much importance to the community, as to induce the pro- 
prietors to continue and e.Klend it in all its various branches for the ac- 
commodation of the practical and scientific farmer, by the introduction 
of new and useful implements of husbandry, and to furnish the best 
tools for his business. 

An establishment of this kind not only answers the above purpose, 
but serves as a depository in which the inventive artisan may place his 
articles for sale. The proprietors do not hesitate to say, that among the 
variety of articles on hand at this establishment, many are far superior 
in their form and construction^ and far better adapted to the purpose for 
which they are intended, than any others which have been in use in this 
country. 



316 



THE COMPLETE FARMER 




Threshing Machines. Pope's improved threshing machine was in- 
vented by the late Joseph Pope, Esq., of Hallowell, Maine, and has 
been in successful operation in different parts of the country for many 
years, and is found to be the best operating machine for all kinds of 
grain that has been in use ; it is well adapted for getting out rice. 

Hale's Threshing Machine. Hale's newly invented rice and grain 
threshing machines are found on trial to be the most thorough and 
etfective implements we have had in operation for the purpose intended ; 
it is a very simple operating machine, and powerful and quick in its 
motion ; does the work well, separates and cleans the grain at the same 
time. This machine must be to the rice planter an indispensable imple- 
ment ; it requires but one man and a horse to woik it. 




S/.r/iw Cutters. The straw cutter is a machine well worth the atten- 
tion of every farmer, and should be in common use with every person 
feeding stock ; and from the gieat improvement and simplicity of the 
machines now in use, the work is done with great expedition and facility. 
h is a subject of great regret to every friend of the agiicultural interest, 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 317 

that these machines are not in more general use. Every farmer who ig 
disposed to use fodder to the best possible advantage, and preserve his 
animals in the best health, in all cases cuts his fodder. For farther ex- 
planation of ihe profits and advantages arising from cutting fodder, the 
following statement is given : 

Mr. Benjamin Hales account of the savings made by the Jise of Straw 
Cutters, employed to cut Hay and Straw as Fodder for Horses. 

Mr Hale is proprietor of a line of stages running between Newbury- 
port and Boston. He says, 
The whole amount of hay purchased from 

Apiil I to Oct. 1,181G (six months), and Tons. net. grs. lbs. 

used at the stage stable, was 32 4 10 

At twenty-live dollars per ton, (the lowest 

price at which hay was purchased in 1816,) $80P 00 

From Oct. 1, 181G, to April 1, 1817, whole 

amount of hay and straw purchased for, 

and consumed by the same number of 



horses, viz. 










T. 


cwt. 


qrs. 


lbs. 


Cost. 


Straw 16 


13 


3 


10 


$160 23 


Hay 13 


14 


1 


00 


350 00 



$510 23 
Deduct on hand April 1, 1817, by estimation, 
four tons moi-e than there was Oct. 1, 1816, 
at twenty-five dollars per ton, 100 $410 23 

Saving by the use of the straw cutter, four 
months of the last six months, or the dif- 
ference in expense in leeding with cut 
fodder, and that which is uncut, $389 77 

Whole amount of hay used for the horses of 

the Salem stage, twenly-five in number, T. cwt. qrs. lbs. 

from April 1 to Oct. 1, 1816, viz. . 22 

At thirty dollars per ton, (the lowest price in 

Salem,) $660 00 

Whole amount consumed by the same num- 
ber of horses, from Oct. 1, 1816, to April 1, 
1817, 

T. act. qrs. lbs. Cost. 

Straw 15 13 $187 80 

Hay 2 15 8100 



$268 80 



Saving in using chopped fodder five months, $391 20 
Total saving in using the straw cutter nine 

months, viz.: at Newburyport, four months, $389 77 

At Salem, five months, 391 20 



Total, $780 97 

The members of the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Agricul- 
tural Society, to whom the above account was communicated by Mr. 
Hale, were informed by that gentleman, that he used no more grain 

27* 



318 



THE COMPLETE FARMER 



from Oct. 181G, to April, 1817, than was used from April, 1816, to Oct. 
1816. 

Remarks. — Tiiere is not only much saving and gain in cutting fodder 
when hay is low, but the animal is kept in better health, more particu- 
larly old horses, and such as may have been injured in their wind. 

It is a fact that horses will live and continue serviceable much longer 
when fed on cut fodder. The machine invented and manufactured by 
Willis, known as " Willis's improved Straw and Hay Cutter,'' is the 
most durable and best operating machine that has come to our knowl- 
edge ; and what is worthy of notice, they require but one person to 
operate them, which is not the case with many other machines ; in this 
there is a great saving in cutting feed, and likewise the fodder may be 
cut of any length required ; the knives being placed in front of the 
niaciiine, can be at all times examined and kept in good order. The 
feeding rollers are so constructed, that while the machine is in the act 
of cutting, the rollers cease to feed, which renders the cutting operation 
very easy. 

Eastman s Straw Cutter, with improved side gearing and cylindrical 
knives. This machine is well calculated for large and extensive estab- 
lishments. Price, fifty to sixty dollars. 

Willis's Vertical Straw and Hay Cutter. It is well constructed, made 
of the best materials and of the best workmanship. Fed and worked by 
one man ; works free and easy, and not liable to get out of order. It will 
cut from thirty-five to forty bushels per hour. Price thirty-five dollars. 
For the cost this is the best machine in use. 

This is to certify, that I have used Willis's improved straw cutter the 
past season, and consider it the best machine for the purpose now in 
use. NATHAN ADAMS. 

The Common Dutch Hand Cutting Machine, is one of those implements 
in common use, and known to every practical farmer ; and is considered 
as good a machine for a small establishment as ,any in use. Will cut 
from ten to twenty bushels per hour. 

Safford's Jmpi-ovcd and Common Straw Cutter, with side gearing ; well 
approved, and is in very general use. 

Green s Patent Straw Cutter. The most approved machine now in 
use for cutting fodder : very simple in its construction, and in no way 
liable to get out of order ; does the work with great ease and despatch. 




Root Steamer. The above cut represents a root steamer, described in 
the Farmer's Magazine, (a work printed in Scotland,) Vol. XVIII. page 
74, and alluded to in page 51 of the present work. It consists of a boiler, 
and wooden chest or box placed over it or near it. The box may be of 
any size, and so placed, as to be supplied and emptied by wheel and hand 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 319 

barrows in the easiest manner, either by the end or top, or both, being 
made to open. " If the box is made eight feet by five, and three deep, 
It will hold as many potatoes as will feed fifty cows for twenty-four hours, 
and these may be steamed in an hour." 




Ploughs. This implement, one of the oldest and most useful emploj'ed 
on a farm, has undergone of late years a wonderful change in all its 
most essential parts, and has been greatly improved. The cast iron 
plough is now most generally used among the best farmers, and consid- 
ered decidedly the best. Among the different ploughs now made of cast 
iron, Howard's stands unrivalled. They have been used at the different 
cattle shows and ploughing matches, and have in all cases been approved 
by them. At the Brighton cattle show at the exhibition in October, 
lo32, they received the premmm of ten dollars, awarded as being the 
best plough presented. 

[E.vtract from the Report of the Committee.] 

" The ploughs were all of cast iron, and by six of the most approved 
manufacturers. The one by Mr. Charles Howard, of Hingham, was a 
superior implement, considerable improvements having recently been 
made by him, in making the mould-board longer than usual, and swel- 
ling the breast of the share, so as to make every part bear equally ; by 
which means the plough runs more true and t^teady, is always free from 
carrying forward any earth, and wears perfectly bright ; and being made 
on mathematical principles, he informed the committee he could make 
the different sizes always the same." JOHN PRINCE, 

EBENEZER HEATH, 
JOHN BAKER, 3d. 

" The duty of awarding a premium ' to the plough which shall be 
adjudged best of all those used at the ploughing match,' devolved on 
the tipo committees f and they agreed unanimously to award it to Mr. 
Charlts Howard, of Hingham, for his new and improved plough; ten 
dollars." GORHAM PARSONS, 

Chairman of Single Teams. 
JOHN PRINCE, 

Chairmxin of Double Teams. 

There has been no plough presented since 1832 which has been con- 
sidered better than the Howard plough ; therefore the committee have 
not awarded a premium since that year ; they still offer the premium of 
ten dollars for the best plough. 

Side hill Plough. This plough, for which a premium was given at 
Brighton, is found to be a very great improvement on the ploughs now 
in use. for working on side-hills. The tnould-board is so constructed as 
to shift on each side, as may be required, by turning on the under side 
of the plough as the team turns at each end of the furrow. 



320 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

Howard's Improved Double Mould- Board Plough. This plough is 
well calculated tor furrowing out land, splitting hills, ploughing between 
corn, potato, and vegetable cultivation, to great advantage. A great 
labor-saving machine ; saves nearly all the hoeing of corn or potatoes. 

Bigeloio's Plough. This plough is made of wrought iron, and is in 
general use, and very much approved, being very strong and quite light; 
does the work well with little labor. 

Morse's Plough. Similar to Bigelow's, but a better made article. 

Rice's common Wood Plough Of all sizes. 

Shovel Plough, and Plough Scrapers. Of all sizes, made to order at 
the shortest notice. 

Quaker Hand Plough. For gardens, a very useful implement, and 
used to great advantage in garden cultivation. Steel pointed. 




Chandler's Improved Double Harrow. This harrow is so constructed 
as to be in two parts, and joined together by hinges on two straight cen- 
tre pins, so that one part can be raised and swung over on the other half 
as occasion requires. Its advantage over the common harrow is, that it 
is less liable to be stopped, as one side may be elevated or turned to a 
perpendicular position, while the other side proceeds horizontally ; it 
may thus be drawn nearer to rocks, trees, &c. It will likewise belter 
adapt itself to ridges, hollows, and uneven land. 

Tree and Bush Pullers. The tree and bush puller is one of the most 
useful and effective implements in use ; it is employed in clearing land 
of under brush, small trees, barberry and other bushes. It is of iron, of 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 



321 



mny aize or dimensions required, something in the form of a rake or claw, 
with the teeth much bent. The giouiid is loosened around the tree or 
bush which is to be removed. The teeth or claws are entered on one 
side, a horse or oxen are attached by a chain to the claw and drawn on 
the opposite side. One man and horse or one yoke of oxen will do more 
work with this implement than five men can do without it, in digging 
and clearincr land. 




Cultivators. Howard and Seaver's patent fixed and expanding culti- 
vators, of all sizes. The cultivator is an implement that is coining into 
very general use in all parts of the country, and serves in a great meas- 
ure in lieu of hoeing. The teeth are so constructed as to raise the 
ground, and leaves it very light and free for cultivation, and at the same 
time destroys the weeds ; and is well adapted to southern and western 
cultivation. 

These cultivators are adapted to all kinds of ground, for running 
through rows of corn, potatoes, and vegetables of all kinds ; and used 
in the cultivation (»f hops, instead of the plough and hoe, and are found 
far superior to either It is likewise well adapted to harrow in grain and 
grass seed ; and, for the many uses to which this implement may be ap- 
plied, it must be considered one of the most valuable tools that is used 
on a farm, and is coming into very general use. 

This certifies, that I have used Seaver's cultivator, and find it a much 
better article to work among corn and potatoes, than any machine that 
I have ever tried ; it clears the weeds between the rows much more 
effectually than either a plough or harrow, and saves a great deal of 
labor. BENJ. WHEELER. 

Framingham, 1834. 

Broad-Cast Machine. Bennet's broad-cast machine. This machine, 
which is designed for sowing broad-cast is found, when used on smooth 
and even ground, to answer a ffood purpose, sows very regular and even, 
and is used with great despatch. 

Tree Brushes. Pickering's improved wire brushes are found to be the 
most effective implements for the purpose of clearing trees and destroy, 
ing caterpillars, of any thing that has ever been used. This brush, which 
is made in a spiral or taper forn), and about eight inches long, is fixed 
on the end of a pole, the small part of tlie brush is entered into the 
webs, and a moderate twist of two or three turns takes the web and all 
connected with it clear from the tree. It should be used very early in 



322 



THE COMPLETE FARMER 



the morning and late in the aflernoon, when the insects are in their 
nests. 




Cheese Presses. Quaker's improved self-governinw cheese press. The 
press is so constructed as to govern and regulate itself, in pressing a 
cheese of any size, without any weights. 

Leavett's Improved Cheese Press; which is so constructed, that seven 
or fourteen pounds' weight will press any common sized cheese. 

Cheese Hoops, different sizes. 

Cheese Cloths. 

Curd Mills, for cutting cheese curds, which facilitates the labor of the 
dairy. 

Lactometers. This invention is found to be of great utility and ad- 
vantage in testing the quality of cream given by each cow. It consists 
of a small mahogany frame which contains four or si.x glass tubes of 
ten inches in length and half an inch in diameter. These tubes are di- 
vided into tenths, and numbered from one to ten, which show the quan- 
tity of cream given by each cow. This little article is found very use- 
ful, and is much used in large dairies. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 



323 




GauH's Patent Churn, which has been in use for several years, is the 
most approved and convenient cliurn now in use. The particular ad- 
vantage is the facility with which it can be worked. From its qnick 
and powerful motion it will produce the greatest quantity of butter from 
the same quantity of cream ; is easy to clean, and no way liable to get 
out of order. 

Mr. Fessenden, Editor of the New EngJavd Farmer. 

Sir, — In answer to the inquiry respecting the Gault's churn, which 
I purchased at the agricultural warehouse, I give it as my decided opin- 
ion, that they are the best churns I iiave ever seen in use. They are 
very convenient to keep clean, bring the butter very easy, and require 
not more than fifteen or twenty minutes to do a churning. 

Respectfully yours, B. REYNOLDS. 

Sharon, June 15, 182i3. 

Stone Churn. A small article, well calculated for small families. 




Davis's /inproref} Patent Dirt Scraper. This road or dirt scraper, in- 
vented by Shadrock Davis, is used to great advantage in removing dirt 
or gravel, more particularly in stony lands, from the peculiar construe 



924 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

tion of the points, which are similar to those of a plough point. They 
enter the ground very free and easy, fill and discharge themselves, and 
are easily managed by one horse or a yoke of oxen. Ploughing is un- 
necessary where these shovels are used. 

We the undersigned hereby certify, that we have used Davis's patent 
plough-pointed road and dirt scraper, and we consider it a great improve- 
ment on the common road scraper, and can with confidence recommend 
it to the public, as being superior to any implement of the kind we have 
ever used, particularly in sandy and stony land, being so constructed as 
to load itself without the use of ploughing, which is common in using 
the old-fashioned dirt scraper. We consider it one of the greatest labor- 
savmg implements to the road-maker that can be used, and as such we 
fully recommend it to the public. 

ABM. WASHBURN, Bridgewatcr. 
HENRY S. PACKARD, .yVor/A Dartmouth. 
BRADFORD HOWLAND, Houth Dartmouth. 

Pruning Shears. This article, which was formerly made by Wake- 
field, of Gardener, has since been very much improved, and is now con- 
sidered as one of the best and most approved implements in use, and 
has taken the place of the pruning knife ; and for grape vines and 
small trees is considered much the best; as upon an easy drawing stroke 
it cuts very smooth and fair without injury to the bark or wood. 

Scythes. The agricultural concave scythes, which are found, from 
the peculiar form and shape in which tliey are made, to cut upon the 
principle of a drawing stroke, and are very easily ground and kept in 
good order, and are considered the best scythes that are manufactured. 
From tlie peculiar construction of these scythes the edge is always left 
true in the middle of the scythe. 

Scythe Rifles. Austin's and Derby's rifles are considered the best arti- 
cles made for the purpose. They are about the size of the common sand 
rifle, are cased with fine emery, and give a very sharp and good edge. 
They are of very general use, and good substitutes for the scythe stone. 

Scythe Snathe. This article, though in very connnon use, has been 
altered and improved to great advantage within a few years past. The 
snathes manufactured by Vickery Baker for the proprietors of the agri- 
cultural warehouse are found to be the most approved and best calcu- 
lated to work free and easy. The regular quick turn at the heel, and 
the strong and substantial iron rings which secure the scythe and nibs, 
are considered a great improvement in those snathes. 

fVillis's Patent Brass Syringe. This syringe is intended for watering 
all kinds of green house and out-door plants, and for preserving grape 
vines from mildew, and has been used with a solution prepared lor that 
purpose, with great success. See the following recipe : 

Take a pint and a half of sulphur, and a lump of the best unslacked 
lime ; put these in a vessel of about seven gallons' measurement ; let 
the sulphur be thrown in first, and the lime over it ; then pour in a pail 
of boiling water, stir it well, and let it stand half an hour ; then fill the 
vessel with cold water, and after stirring well again, allow the whole to 
settle ; after it has become settled dip out the clear liquid into a barrel, 
and fill the barrel with cold water, and it is then fit for use. You next 
proceed with a syringe holding about a pint and a half, and throw the 
liquid with it on the vines in every direction, so as to completely cover 
foliage, fruit, and wood ; this should be particularly done when the fruit 
is just forming, and about one-third tlie size of a pea, and may be cou- 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 



325 



tinued twice or thrice a week for two or three weeks. The whole pro- 
cess for one or two hundred grape vines need not exceed half an hour. 




Harruf's Improved Paint Mill. This mill can be used by hand, horse, 
or any other power that it may be attached to, and works to great advan- 
tage. From the very plain and simple manner of its construction, it is 
easily taken to pieces and cleaned, and shifted from one place to 
another, and used with great facility, and is considered one of the best 
and most useful mills in use. 

CERTIFICATES FOR HARRls's PAINT MILL. 

1 the undersigned hereby certify, that I have used Harris's improved 
patent paint mill, purchased at the agricultural warehouse, Boston, and 
consider it the best and most convenient mill for the purpose intended 
of any I have ever used. It is very readily cleaned and put in order. 

Hingham, Feb. 20, J834. SETH B. GUSHING. 

28 



326 



THE COMPLETE FARMER 



I the undersigned do certify, that I have used one of Harris's paint 
mills for grinding a variety of paint for about two j'enrs, and do not hesi- 
tate to give it the preference to every other mill I have ever used. 

Ware, May 2(), ISM. THOMAS B. WESTERN. 

I hereby certify, that 1 have been in the paint business for fifteen years, 
and have used different kinds of paint mills, and have not found any so 
good as Harris's patent mill. I have ground with one of these mills 
one hundred pounds of lead in two hours. I. BARTLETT. 

I have used one of Harris's patent paint mills for o-rinding small col- 
ors for some time past, and find it the best mill for the purpose in use. 

Boston, June 20, 1834. GEORGE YENDELL, 




Winnoicing Machines. Holmes's improved winnowing machine is one 
of the best that is in use. It is very plain and simple in its construction, 
and very powerful in its operation ; is well calculated for cleaning all 
kinds of grain, and may be applied to many other purposes, such a» 
cleaning rice, coffee, «fcc. 

Elliot's patent horizontal mill is for the same purpose. Though 
smaller and more compact, is found equally as good ; is considered as an 
improvement on the common winnowing machines now in use. The 
motion of the flyers is horizontal, and the sieves have a forward and 
bacltward motion. 

Grain Cradles. This article, like the scythe snathe, has undergone 
a very great alteration and is much improved. The scythe is well 
secured, and finished in a superior manner, and made of the best cast 
steel. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 



327 




Revolving Horse Rake. The revolving rake, which has been in gen- 
eral use in most parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is found to be 
one of the most useful and labor-saving machines now in use. One 
man and horse, with a boy to lead, will rake on an average from ten to 
fifteen acres per day with ease, and do the work well. They are coming 
into very general use in all parts of the country, and will no doubt in a 
few years supersede the use of the common hand rake. 

Cast Steel and Common Axes. This very common article among our 
farmers is one of the most useful iinplemenis ever invented. Under- 
bill's cast steel axes have been considered as the best, and most ap- 
proved in form and shape, and are warranted in every respect to be 
of the best quality. They are finished in the most perfect manner, and 
ground to a fine smooth cutting edge. 

Hatchets, cleavers, and many other tools, made by difl'erent workmen, 
and finished in the same manner. 




Hoes. Great improvement has been made in this article of late. A 
great variety of hoes are now manufactured, of different forms. Those 
made by Morgan are considered the best now in use; they are made of 
the best of steel, crooked neck, and socket handles. 



3-28 



TOE COMPLETE FARMER 



The Pron<T or Potato Hoc, is one of the most useful, simple, and im- 
proved iniplenient.s that is employed. It was invented and used in the 
first instance for digging potatoes; it was afterwards found as useful for 
planting as for digging them, and likewise is used lor almost every pur- 
pose for which a hoe Jias been used; anil they are employed to the great- 
est possible advantage in stony or rocky lands, and in planting new 
land; they are likewise used as a garden hoe, being one of the best im- 
plements a gardener can have in use, or in working between rows of 
vegetables, digging round young trees, loosening the ground, &c. 

Lord l^ernoii's Jftw Tillage Hoc, The utility of this garden hoe will 
he duly appreciated upon trial. Few gardeners or nursery men employed 
in gardening will be without them wiicn once they have been used. 
They are employed to great advantage in deep tillage ; in many cases 
they are superior to digging or forking the land. 




Cast Steel Shovels and Spades. Jlmes's improved , Cast Steel back 
Strapped Shovels and Spades are very superior in every respect to the 
common iron and steel shovels. They wear much longer, continue 
brighter, more sharp, and are used with great ease. This article, though 
one of the oldest and most common implements in use, has been much, 
improved. Also a great variety of other kinds of spades and siiovels, 
made by different manufacturers. Irish shovels and spades with long 
handles. 

Bill-Hook. This article is much used in Enijland in pruning and 
clearing brush, and is a good tool as a substitute for the pruning saw and 
chisel, and can be used with more expedition. 




Garden and Field Rollers. E. Phinney, Esq., of Lexington, has made 
great and successful use of the roller for grass land, and has given a de- 
scription and dimensions of what he considers the most convenient and 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 



329 



best proportion, viz. : The rollers to be six feet in length and five feet in 
in diameter, placed on an iron a.xle of the sanie length by one inch and 
a half in diameter; the roller to be made of oak or any hard wood plank, 
each plank to be about four inches wide and two and a half thick ; the 
roller is made in two parts, of three feet each ; each end of tiie axle ia 
secured in a frame which is made of joist, of a suitable size to receive 
the end of the axle ; to tliis frame is attached the shafts in which the 
horse is, or a tongue to which the oxen are attached, which completes 
the rollers. 

Mr. Phinney says, this sized roller presents the following among other 
advantages, viz.: If the ground is very mellow, the large sized roller 
presses the small stones more directly into the ground and renders the 
surface more regular and even ; the large roller also moves easier, and 
the weight falling more directly upon the small stones, they are, as he 
has before observed, better pressed into the earth, the lumps of earth 
more finely broken, and the surface left much smoother. For garden 
rollers or gravel walks the stone or iron rollers are prepared, of different 
sizes. 




Corn Shelter. A corn sheller is one of the most convenient and labor- 
saving implements that the practical farmer has in use. Various ma- 
chines for this purpose have been invented. The most improved and 
28* 



330 



THE COMPLETE FARMER 



best adapted for common use are those of Harrison, with the patent ver- 
tical wheel. It can be employed in all cases for large or small-sized ears. 
It is very simple in its construction and duiable in its operation, and no 
way liable to get out of order ; one man can work it to good advantage, 
though a man to turn and a boy to feed it works it much better than one 
alone. In this way it will shell ten to twelve bushels per hour. They 
are so light and portable as to be easily removed from place to place, 
and one machine will serve for several families, or even the inhabitants 
of a small town. 




JVillis's and Hale's improred Portable Horse Power, may be worked 
by one or more horses, mules, or oxen. As every farmer keeps more or 
less of these animals, no additional expense is required in working theje 
powers. They are calculated to propel any kind of machinery or agri- 
cultural implements in common use, such as threshing machines, cider 
mills, corn and cob mills, straw and hay cutters, corn shellers, grind- 
stones, winnowing machines, &c. ; they are likewise well adapted for 
machine shops, in working the circular or web saw, turning lathes, or 
any machinery where power is required. The alterations and improve- 
ments made in this power render it very simple in its construction and 
easy in its operation, and not liable to get out of order when properly 
made. They occupy but the small space of nine feet by two, and are 
easily removed ; they are truly labor-saving machines, and must come 
into general use with farmers and mechanics. They are likewise well 
adapted for the use of plantations, being calculated for working saw or 
roller gins, and other purposes to which they may be applied ; they are 
so portable as to be transported at a moderate expense, and may be put 
in operation by any person of common capacity. 

Bark or Plaster Mills. The Troy bark and plaster mills. These mills 
are altered and much improved from the old-fashioned mill which has 
been in use for many years. 

Family Hand Mills. Willis's improved patent family or plantation 
mill, calculated for grinding corn, coffee, &c., has a small balance wheel, 
which regulates its operation and causes it to work free and easy. 

Glass Covers for Plants. These covers are used for covering plants, 
— protecting them in their growth and preventing mildew. 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 



331 




Willis's Stationary Horse Pozcer, and Corn Cracker Attached. Corn 
and Cob Cracker. This mill, which is calculated for grinding cob and 
corn together, is found to make the best provender and the most eco- 
nomical food for fattening hogs or horses. It is so constructed as to be 
used with a common grist mill or separate, as circumstances may require, 
and may be worked by a single horse or any other power. From thirty 
to forty bushels per hour have been ground in tliose mills. 




_^JL 



Grindstones on Friction Rollers. Grindstones of different sizes hung 
on friction rollers and moved with a foot treader, are found to be a great 
improvement on the present mode of hanging grindstones. The ease 



332 



THE COMPLETE FARMER 



with which they move upon the rollers renders them very easy to turn 
with the foot, by which the labor of one man is saved ; and the person 
in the act of grinding can govern the stone more to his mind by having 
the complete control of his work. Stones hung in this manner are 
coming daily more in use. and wherever used give universal satisfac- 
tion. The rollers can be attached to stones hung in tlie common way. 

Hay Knives. These knives are for the purpose of cutting the hay in 
the mow, and are a desirable article for that purpose, and almost indis- 
pensable where hay is stacked in the yard, and the farmer would wish 
to spend his hay to the best advantage. 

Peat Knives, ior cniimg pe?iX; an article which is daily increasing in 
use for fuel, and in many parts of our country is found in great abun- 
dance, and if cut at a suitable season of the year, is used to good advan- 

Pomace Knives. These knives are almost indispensable in a cider 
country. 

Ditching Knives, for ditching Low Laiids. 

Cast Steel Edging and Trimming Knives. These knives are calculated 
for edging and trimming grass-plats, borders, &c. ; are found to be one 
of the most convenient tools a gardener can have in use. 

Grass and Edgeing Shears. Tiiese shears are for the purpose of edg- 
ing banks and slopes, for trimming and keeping the banks in good order, 
and the oftener they are used the more thrifty and thick the grass will 
grow. 




Hale's Improved Rotary Pump. This pump, which is a great improve- 
ment upon the various rotary pumps now in use, is very plain and sim- 
ple in its construction, and no way liable to get out of order ; but works 
with great facility, throws a constant and regular stream by a very sim- 
ple operation of a crank, and is calculated for all kinds of domestic pur- 
poses, as well as for green-houses, factories, «&c. There are different 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 



333 



sizes of these pumps manufactured, which are so constructed as to 
answer as forcing pumps, in such a manner as to carry water to any dis- 
tance, and are a good substitute for an engine. 

Zinc Hollow Ware, either for culinary use or the dairy, by wholesale 
or retail, may be had at the agricultural warehouse. Tlie proprietors are 
sole agents for vending the above wares. The prices of this ware will, 
upon examination, be found not to vary materially from that of tin and 
iron, yet as durable as iron, easily cleansed, not subject to rust, giving 
the article cooked or kept in it no unpleasant taste, and containing in 
itself no poisoji, like copper, brass, and lead. 

Zinc kettles will be found to c«ok rice, hominy, and all kinds of 
sweetmeats, better than any other kind of metal, neither discoloring nor 
varying the flavor of the substance cooke-d ; and for these purposes, it 
will ere long be substituted for brass and copper, to avoid the poisonous 
corrosions of those metals. 

Zinc pans, for the dairy, will be found by the dairy-woman an object 
worthy of her attention, from these considerations: that they will greatly 
outlast any other pans, that the same size pans will produce one-sixth 
more cream or butter, and of a superior flavor ; they are more easily 
cleansed, and will keep milk sweet longer by a number of hours. Zinc 
tubs and firkins will keep butter sweet several days longer in hot 
weather than those of wood or other kinds of metal. This has been a 
subject of experiment, and the results safely warrant the statement. 
Hence families who prefer sweet butter to rancid, will do well to avail 
themselves of tliese tubs, for keeping their butter sweet and retaining 
its flavor. 




Scott, Keith, ^ Co.'s Improned Cast Iron Pump. This pump was in 
vented by Jesse Reed, of Bridgevvaler, and proves to be the most simple 
and best constructed pump that is in use, being made of cast iron, which 



334 



THE COMPLETE FARMEB 



is considered the best metal which water can pass through ; is very 
durable and cheap. It has metal boxes so constructed, that in raising 
the handle the lower box or valve is opened, and liie water let off, which 
prevents its freezing. They are so plain and simple in their construc- 
tion, that they can be put up or taken down by any common workman, 
and no way liable to get out of order. They are attached to wooden 
logs or lead pipes, and are well calculated for all domestic purposes. 




Cattle Chains. These chains have of late been introduced for the 
purpose of securing cattle to the stall, — are found to be the safest and 
most convenient mode of fastening cows and oxen in the stanchion. 
They consist of a chain which passes round the animal's neck, and by 
a ring attached to the stall plays freely up and down, and leaves the 
animal at liberty to lie down or rise at pleasure, and keeps him perfectly 
secure. 




Brooks's Patent Silk Spinning Machine. Brooks's silk spinning and 
reeling machine, is found to be a very simple and easy operating ma- 
chinerand yet one of tlie most perfect that has been invented lor the 
purpose of reeling and twisting silk from the cocoons, and manufactur- 
ing it into sewing silk. By the different arrangements of tiiis machine. 



AND niJRAL ECONOMIST. 



335 



it will operate upon a single or double thread, as may be required, and 
prepare it for twisting or weaving. Experience has fully proved, that by 
uniting the filaments of silk as they are drawn from the cocoons, wet in 
their natural glutinous substance, before tiiey dry, the thread is more 
firm, smooth, and strong. The simplicity of the machine, and the very 
easy way in which it is used, bring it within the comprehension and 
capacity of any person to use it. J\Jr. Brooks has leceived a premium 
for his invention from several societies, and of late a premium and medal 
from the Scott's legacy, in Philadelphia. 

Lightning Kuds and Glass Blocks. From the repeated and almost 
daily occurrences which happen from the effect of lightning, occasioning 
death, and destruction of much property, it is a matter of surprise that 
every farmer does not have attached to his dwelling-house and barn a 
lightning rod, and guarded in the best possible manner, which is done 
by passing the rod through glass blocks which are constructed for the 
purpose. 




Ox Yokes. Man}' improvements have been made in this article, and 
even in the bows and keys. 

Brass and Comjwsition Balls. These balls are not only ornamental, 
but are very useful in preventing the animal from hooking, or being in 
other respects mischievous and troublesome. They have been in very 
general use, and add much to the appearance of the animal. 




Pomroys Patent Sprino- Staple, for securing horses. The improve- 
ment in this staple, is such, that if the horse is cast, or in any way en- 
tangled, he can disengage and free himself. Many fine and valuable 
horses are lost for the want of this self-regulating staple. 

Carriage Lifter, or levers, for raising wagons, carts, or carriages of 
all kinds, or for raising loads, pressing goods, &c. Being a small handy 
implement, it may be taken in a carriage, while travelling, and found 
very convenient and handy for the purpose. Carriage winches and 
wrenches are likewise very handy and convenient travelling compan- 
ions, and should always be at hand. 

.Qpple Purer. The apple paring machine is used to great advantage 
in that part of the country where much attention is given to paring and 
drying apples fur market. This is a small simple machine, which is 
very convenient for the use it is designed for, and is as much of a lime 



336 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

and labor-saving machine as those which are more expensive and com- 
plicated. 



Willis's Improved Seed Sower. This macliine, which vi'as designed in 
the first instance for sowinir small seed in gardens, is found on using to 
sow large as well as small seed to advantage, and proves to be one of 
the best field and garden implements in use. It is particularly adapted 
for sowing ruta baga, turnip, &c. The savmg of seed in the use of this 
implement is quite sufficient to pay the cost of it in one season, and the 
seed is sown more regular and even. 

Hardens Improved Seed Sowing Machine. This is one of the best 
labor-saving machines in use, calculated for sowing small seeds in the 
field or garden. 

Patent Ciirry-Comhs, and Brass teeth Cattle Cards. Patent and com- 
mon curry-combs, and cards with brass teeth. No stock farm should 
ever be kept without a good supply of these articles, and constant use 
being made of them. 

Straw Splitters. This little implement, which is plain and simple in 
its construction, is one of the most useful implements, and should be 
introduced and used in every family, in town and country. 

Sate and Roller Gins. Cotton gins have become the indispensable 
articles of the cotton planter. A new roller gin has been invented by 
a Mr. Whittemore, and is coming into very general use; it is readily 
worked by hand or horse power. 

Stamps, of all descriptions, for maiking and branding the farmer's 
tools, of which every farmer who is in the habit of lending and accom- 
modating his neighbours and friends, as all farmers are and must be, 
should have every tool marked with his name. This prevents the loss 
of many tools, and much inquiry and trouble among neighbours. 

Garden Reels and Lines. Very handy and convenient implements for 
the gardener, in laying out his borders, beds, alleys, »fcc. 

Pruning Chisels and Saws. Of all the implements that are used on 
the farm, there are none used to so much profit and advantage as the 
pruning knife and saw. Too many of our fruit and ornamental trees 
are suffered to run to wood ; from this circumstance we have less and 
poorer fruit. 

Mannre and Hay Fork. No one implement has undergone so thorough 
an investigation and improvement as the hay and manure fork. Since 
the first introduction or use of these articles, great improvement has 
been made in the form of them, and the quality of steel from which 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 337 

they are made. Among the most approved manure forks in use are 
those of Willis, cast steel, manufactured from one piece, in which no 
welding is necessary. These forks have been in common use for many 
years. They are so well tempered as to have that degree of elasticity, 
that they discharge the manure with the greatest ease ; they are in no 
way liable to clog or foul, and are very strong and durable. Unfortu- 
nately for this article, there has been great quantities of a very inferior 
kind made and sold in the form ana shape of the true patent ones, 
which, having been made of very poor steel and slighted in the manu- 
facturing of them, has injured the use of this very useful and almost in- 
dispensable article. 

Budding and Pruning Knives. A great variety of budding and pruning 
knives are now used, of various forms and shapes : some very superior 
ones. 

Fruit Shears. Those shears which are attached to a pole are for the 
purpose of taking off fruit from the extreme branches of trees, or such 
parts as are not to be come at conveniently in any other way. For this 
purpose they are found to be very convenient and useful; they are like- 
wise used for taking off scions, &.c. 

Tree Scrapers. This article, which is indispensable in keeping trees 
in good order, should be used every season in removing the dry and hard 
bark from trees, to increase a quick and vigorous growth, and keep them 
in full bearing. 

Transplanting Trowels and Forks. 

Post Augurs and Post Axes. These two implements are used for one 
and the same purpose, tliat of mortising posts. 

Pickaxe. A common but very useful article, on an improved plan. 

Post Spoojis. With this implement and a common crow-bar, posts are 
set with great advantage and expedition. 

Stable Door Hasps, for the purpose of securing barn or stable doors, 
gates, &c. 

IVillis's Improved Family Sausage Filler. This machine, which is 
intended for filling sausages, is one of the most convenient and expedi- 
tious things for the purpose that can be conceived of One man will do 
more in preparing and filling sausages with this machine, than ten men 
can in the old manner of working fhem. 




Fessenden's Patent Lamp Boiler and Tea-kettle. The lamp apparatus 
for heating water, &c. here represented, has been found very useful in 
small families, and such persons as may wish to prepare tea or coffee 
29 



338 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

drink, cook eggs, oysters, &c., in their own apartments, without the 
trouble or inconvenience of a wood or coal fire. It is very convenient 
in public houses, coffee-houses, and other places, where it is wished to 
keep any hot liquid constantly on hand. Besides answering all the pur- 
poses of what is called the nurse lamp, it may be made to boil from one 
pint to a gallon of water, by a method which in many cases will be found 
tlie most economical and expeditious which can be devised. 

Description of the Cut. — [A] Sheet iron case, in which the tea- 
kettle, boiler, &c. may be placed, removable at pleasure. It has a hole 
in the bottom, to admit the heat of the lamp to pervade the bottom and 
sides of the boiler. [BJ Lamp with five or six wicks, more or less, 
placed when in use under said case. [C] Pan or boiler, which, when 
in use, is placed in the sheet iron case. [D] Tea-kettle in its place for 
boiling. [E] A small sheet iron cylinder, a little tapering, so as to 
form the frustrum of a hollow cone. This is occasionally placed within 
the case, so as to surround the hole in its bottom, in order to place upon 
it a coffee-pot, tea-pot, flask, tin porringer, or other small vessel, in which 
jt may be wished to heat water. 

Farnhavis Improved Patent Grater Cider Mill. The improvement in 
this mill is in grmding, or rather grating the apples very fine, so that 
all the juice is pressed out; and produces a greater quantity of liquor 
from the same quantity of pomace. The above mills are in extensive 
operation, and very much approved of. They will grind two bushels of 
apples per minute, and are in no way liable to get out of order. 

With little alteration it can be made one of the best vegetable grinders, 
for grinding or cutting food for animals. 

Cider Presses. Presses of different descriptions to correspond with 
the cider mills. 

Vegetable Cutler. Leavitt's improved patent vegetable cutter, for 
cutting ruta baga, mangel-wurtzel, turnips, &c. Cutting those kinds 
of vegetables is found to be very beneficial to animals, particularly to 
milch cows, not only by increasing the quantity, but the quality of the 
milk. It is a very perfect and complete machine for the purpose. 

Ploughshares. Wrought and cast iron ploughshares, of all sizes, fitted 
and prepared in such a manner as to be at all times ready and fit for 
immediate use. 

Patent and Common Horse Phlemes. The patent phleme is a very 
great improvement on the common kind, and in the hands of an expe- 
rienced and careful person is used with perfect safety, and is very effec- 
tual in its operation. 

Carter s Patent Guidcboard. Made by branding the letters and figures 
on boards ; when done in this manner, are more legible and durable 
than the usual mode of painting. A full set of letters and figures will 
be furnished, calculated to answer all the purposes for one town. 

Directions for using the Brands. — The brands are to be heated to a 
cherry red, then applied to the board, and guided by a straight piece 
tacked on to keep them in a line. The board is then to be lightly planed 
over, and the white lead applied in the usual manner with a brush. 
The black letters will not lose their brightness, for the durability of 
charcoal is well known, STANLEY CARTER. 



FARMER'S CALENDAR. 



The following calendar is intended merely as an agricultural prompter, 
noting that certain kinds of work siiould be performed about the time in 
the year specified at the head of each article. The figures refer to the 
pages in this little volume, in whicii further directions may be found 
relative to the operations which the season in general demands from the 
diligent, correct, and careful cultivator. 

" At the beginning of every month, a good farmer, whether he has or 
has not a book of this sort, is obhged to reflect on the work he has to 
perform in that month : he ought to foresee the whole at once, or it ia 
impossible that he should make due provision for its performance. I 
leave it to any one to judge, if such an estimate of monthly business can 
be gained so easily without such an assistance to the memory as is afford- 
ed by such a calendar ; and even if such a work but once in a year gives 
intimation of some important work which might otherwise have been for- 
gotten, its worth must be acknowledged."* 

The directions in the following pages, are intended for the New Eng- 
land States, or about the latitude of forty-two degrees north, and the 
vicinity, or a small elevation above the sea. Allowance, however, should 
be made for height above tlie sea, as well as for situation north or south 
of any particular latitude ; but we believe it not possible to state with any 
near approach to precision what such allowance should be. The nature 
of the soil, the aspect, the e.\posure, the forwardness or backwardness, or 
what may be styled the general character of the season, are all to be re- 
garded. We will, therefore, not claiui precision, wliere accuracy is not 
attainable. " Calendars," as Loudon has well observed, " should be cuti- 
sidered as remembrancers, never as directories." 

JANUARY. 

Stock. If cattle are fed with straw, it should be done with necessary 
attentions and limitations. The celebrated Arthur Young observed, that 
" the best farmers in Norfolk are generally agreed, that cattle should eat 
no straw, unless it be cut into chaff" mixed with hay ; but, on the contrary, 
that they should be fed with something better, and have the straw thrown 
under them to be trodden into dung :" and I am much inclined to believe, 
that in most, if not in all cases, this maxim will prove a just one. See 
that your cows are of the best breed Page 38. Give theui roots as well 
as hay, and they will give you more than an equivalent in milk for their 
extra keep. Page 40. Provide pure water for your milch cows, and 



* Voung'a British Farmer's Calendar. 



340 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

not obliire them to go a mile, more or less, after it, manuring the high- 
way, and running tlie gauntlet of dogs, teams, the horse and liis rider, the 
eleigh and its driver, with more annoyances than Bonaparte met with 
in his retreat from Moscow. See also that the master-beasts do not 
tyrannize over their weaker brethren ; and if any are inclined to dcjmineer, 
lake them into close custody, and deprive them of the liberty of the yard, 
till they will give indemnity for the past, and security for the future. 
Cut or chaff your hay, straw, corn-tops, bottoms, &,c., with one of Willis's 
or some other straw-cutter, to be found at Breck &. Co.'s Agricultural 
Warehouse, No. 52 North Market street, Boston, or some other place. 
You may also make use of Colonel Jaques's mixture, (page 48,) without 
charge for the presciiption. If you give your cows good hay, roots, and 
comfortable lodging, you may make as good butter in winter as in summer, 
o.nd become rich by sending to market the product of your dairy. Pages 
54, 87, 88, &c. 

FEBRUARY. 

.Attend particularly to cows which have calved, or are about to calve, 
as well as to their offspring. You know, or should know, what time 
your cows may be expected to produce their young, by means pointed 
out page 42, where you may find a receipt for those cows which need to 
be doctored, that tbey may stop giving milk. You will find observations 
on rearing and fattening calves, pages 54, &c. to page CI. Your ewes 
and lambs will now require tiiat care and attention which is indispensa- 
ble to make sheep husbandry profitable. Page 212. Tlie way to doctor 
lambs to advantage is, to give good food, and a plenty of it, to their moth- 
ers. Half a. gill of Indian corn a day to eacii ewe before yeaning, and 
about two quarts per day of potatoes, turnips, or other roots, when they 
have lambs to nurse, will make your sheep and lambs health}', as well as 
their owner wealthy. But if you half starve your siieep, you will quite 
kill your lambs. You will contmue to cut, split, and pile wood in your 
woodhouse, till you have enough to last at least two years. It is very 
bad economy to be obliged to leave your work in haying or harvesting, 
to draw every now and then a little green wood to cook with, which is 
about as fit for that purpose as a brickbat for a pincushion, or a lump of ice 
for a warming-pan. 

MARCH. 

You may sow grass seed either as soon as the snow is off the ground, 
or, as some say, m August or September. You may see the question 
relative to the time for this purpose discussed, pages 22, 24. Be sure to 
use seed enough, say about twelve pounds of clover and one peck of 
herd's grass [timothy] to the acre. Page 24. If you did not sow grass 
eeed in autumn with winter grain, you may now sow it, and even harrow 
it in. Though a few plants will be torn up, the grain will on the whole 
receive benefit from being harrowed in the spring. Before the spring 
work presses hard upon you, it will be well to employ your boys, under 
your superintendence, to train your steers or calves and colts to the yoke, 
saddle, or harne.=!s ; for which you may see some excellent directions, by 
Mr. James Walker, page ()4 Top-dress winter grain. Top-dressings 
should not be used in the fall for winter grain, because they would be 
apt to make the young plants come forward too fast, and be the more 
liable to be winter-killed. Page 178. Attend to fences, page 204, and 



AND RUKAL ECONOMIST. 341 

to drains. Page 282. By often changing the direction of your water- 
courses, you may render your mowing even, and prevent one part from 
becoming too rank and lodging before tlie other part is fit to cut. 



APRIL. 

Plovghing. Light sandy soils had better be ploughed in the spring, 
and not late in autumn, lest the)- become too porous, and are washed 
away by tlie rains and floods of fall and winter. For general rules on 
this subject, see page 2(i7, &.c. It is best to sow spring wheat as soon as 
it can well be got into the ground. The soil and preparation should be 
the same as for winter wheat. Page 107. Sow barley as soon as the 
ground is sufficiently dry. Page 134. Sow oats. Page 131. Spring 
rye is cultivated in the same manner as winter rye. Page 124. Field 
peas as well as garden peas make an excellent ciop. Page 147. Beans 
are also highly worth the judicious cultivator's particular attention. Page 
152. Plant some potatoes of an early sort on early ground, to be used in 
July and August, as food for your hogs, that you may conmience fatten- 
ing them earl)' in the season. Page 258. Potatoes in small quantities at 
a time are good food for horses and oxen, as well as most other animals, 
especially in sprmg. They will go further, if steamed or boiled, but when 
given raw, they are useful as well for physic as for food, being of a laxa- 
tive and cooling quality. It is now about the time to sow flax, page 9!), 
and hemp. Page !'2. Every tool, utensil, «&c., which will be wanted for 
the labors of the season, should now (if not done before) be critically in- 
spected, thoroughly repaired, and such new ones of the best quality added 
as will probably be needed. We know of no place where every want of 
that kind can be better supplied than at Breck & Co.'s Agricultural 
Warehouse, No. 52 North Blarket street, Boston; connected with which 
is a seed store, where may be procured the best of seeds both for garden 
and field culture. 

MAY. 

Attend to your pastures. Do not turn cattle into pasture ground too 
early in the spring, but let the grass have a chance to start a little before 
it is bitten close to the soil. If your pastures are large, it will be good 
economy to divide them as stated page 285. Cleanse your cellars, ae 
well as the rest of your premises, from all putrescent and other offensive 
and unwholesome substances. Plant Indian corn as soon as the leaves 
of the white oak are as big as the ears of a mouse. Page 25. Not only 
Indian corn, but peas, oats, buckwheat, and probably most other seeds, 
are benefited by wetting them in water just before sowing, and rolling 
them in plaster. Plant potatoes for your principal crop. Page 258. 
Sow millet. Page 137. Sow lucerne on land thoroughly prepared, and 
keep it free from weeds. Page 16. Declare war against insects. 'Page 
302. The artillery for the engagement may be elder juice, or decoction 
of elder, especially of the dwarf kind, decoction of tobacco, quicklime, 
lime-water, soot, unleached ashes, strong lye, tar or turpentine water, 
soap-suds, &LC. Dissolve about two pounds of potash, in seven quarts of 
water, and apply the solution to your fruit-trees with a painter's brush, 
taking care not to touch the leaves or buds. A lot of land well stocked 
with clover is wanted by every good cultivator for pasturing swine. 
Page 159. 

29* 



342 THE COMPLETE FARMER 



JUNE. 

Summer-made Manure demands attention. Most farmers yard their 
cows at night, through the summer; their manure should be collected 
into a heap, in some convenient part of the barn-yard, to prevent its 
being wasted by the sun and rains. A few minutes' attention in the 
morning, when the cows are turned out to pasture, would collect a heap 
of several loads in a season, ready for your grass grounds in autumn. 
Dress your Indian corn and potatoes, thoroughly extirpating weeds, and 
please to place a handful of ashes or plaster, or a mixture of both, on 
your hills of corn and potatoes. These substances are commonly applied 
before the first or second hoeing. But ashes or quicklime (which is also 
an excellent application for corn) will have a better effect in preventing 
worms if laid on before the corn is up. Be careful to save all your soap- 
suds after each washing, as they answer an excellent purpose when ap- 
plied to fruit-trees, both as manure and as an antidote to insects. " Plas- 
ter or live ashes sown upon your pasture grounds, will not only repay a 
handsome profit by increasing the value of your feed, by bringing in the 
finer grasses, such as white clover, &c., but will greatly improve your 
lands for a potato fallow, and a succeeding wheat crop, whenever you 
may wish to take advantage of a routine of crops." 



JULY. 

Hay-making. Page 275. Make as much of your hay as possible in 
the early part of the season, as there is at that time a greater probability 
of your being favored with fair weather. More rain falls on an average 
in the latter part of sununer, or after the 15th of July, than before. If 
the weather is so unfavorable tliat hay cannot be thoroughly cured, the 
application of from four to eight quarts of salt to the ton is recommend- 
ed. In this way it can be saved in a much greener state, and the benefit 
derived from the salt is many times its value. Another good method 
of saving green or wet hay, is that of mixing layers of dry straw in the 
mow or stack. Thus the strength of the grass is absorbed by the straw, 
and the cattle will eagerly devour the mixture. 

Harvesting. Page 27'J. The time in which your grain crop should 
be cut, is when the straw begins to shrink, and becomes white about 
half an inch below the ear ; but if a blight or rust has struck wheat or 
rye, it is best to cut it immediately, even if the grain be in the milky 
state. Barley, however, should stand till perfectly ripe. 



AUGUST. 

Please to attend in season to preserving your sheep from the cEstrus 
ovis, or fly which causes worms in their heads. Page 22d. This may 
be done by keeping the noses of the animals constantly smirched with 
. tar from the middle of August till the latter part of September. In 
order to accomplish this, it has been recommended to mix a little fine 
salt with tar, and place it under cover, where the sheep can have access 
to it, and they will keep their noses sufficiently smirched with tar to 
prevent the insect from attacking them. Destroy thistles, which some 
Bay may be done by letting them grow till in full liloom, and then cutting 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 343 

Ihem with a scythe about an inch above the surface of the ground. The 
Blem being hollow, the rains and dews descend into the heart of the plant, 
and it soon dies. Select the ripest and most plutnp seeds from such 
plants as are most forward and thrifty, and you will improve your breeds 
of vegetables by means similar to those which have been successful in 
improving the breeds of neat cattle, sheep, &c. As soon as your har- 
vesting is finished, you will take advantage of this hot and dry weather, 
to search your premises for mines of manure, such as peat, page 200, 
marl, page ISKi, mud, «Stc., which often give unsuspected value to 
swamps. Now is also a good season to work at draining. Page 282. 
You may drain certain marshes on your premises, which will afford you 
better soil than you now cultivate, cause your land to be more healthy, 
and the earth taken from the ditches will make valuable deposits in your 
cow-yard and pig-sty. 



SEPTEMBER. 

A correctly calculating cultivator will make even his hogs labor for a 
livelihood. This may be done by throwing into their pens potato-tops, 
weeds, brakes, turf, loam, &c., which these capital workmen will man- 
ufacture into manure of the first quality. Page 181. You cannot sow 
winter rye too early in September. If it be sowed early, its roots will 
obtain such hold of the soil before winter, that they will not be liable to 
be thrown out and killed by frosl. Page 124. It ma}' be sowed early 
to great advantage in order to yield green food for cattle and sheep, par- 
ticularly the latter, in the spring. Winter wheat, likewise, cannot be 
sowed too early in September. Page 107. Attend to the barn-yard, and 
see that it has a proper shape for a manure manufactory, as well as other 
accommodations, adapted to its various uses. Page 74. You may as 
well have a hole in your pocket, for the express purpose of losing your 
money, as a drain to lead away the wash of your farm-yard. True, it 
may spread over your grass ground, and be a source of some fertility to 
your premises, but the chance is that most of it will be lost in a high- 
way, or neighbouring stream. 



OCTOBER. 

PlougJdng. Page 2C7. Stiff, hard, cloggy land intended to be tilled 
should be ploughed in autumn. Fall ploughing saves time and labor in 
the spring, when cattle are weak, and the hurry of the work peculiar to 
that season presses on the cultivator. A light sandy soil, however, 
should not be disturbed by fall ploughing, but lie to settle and consoli- 
date through the winter. Select your corn intended for planting next 
season from the field, culling fine, fair, sound ears from such stocks as 
produce two or more ears, taking the best of the bunch. Page 29. You 
will consider well which is the best method of harvestinor corn, and 
adopt one of the methods mentioned by Judge Duel. Page 28. If the 
husks and bottoms of your corn, when stowed away for wmter, are 
sprinkled with a strong solution of salt in water, (taking care not to use 
such a quantity of the solution as to cause mould,) and when dealt out 
are cut fine with a straw-cutter, they will make first-rate fodder. Do 
not feed hogs with hard corn without steeping, grinding, or boiling it. 
The grain will go much the farther for undergoing some or all of these 



344 THE COMPLETE FARMER 

operations ; and if a due degree of fermentation is superadded, bo much 
the better. 



NOVEMBER. 

In many situations it will be excellent management to rake up all the 
leaves of trees, and the mould which has been produced by their decay, 
which can be procured at a reasonable expense, and cart and spread 
them in the barn-yard as a layer, to absorb the liquid manure from your 
cattle. Likewise it would be well to place quantities of them under 
cover, in situations where you can easily obtain them in winter to use as 
litter to your stables, &c. They do not rot easily, but they serve the 
purpose of little sponges to imbibe and retain liquid manure, and by 
their use you may supply your crops with much food for plants which 
would otherwise be lost. Attend with diligence and punctuality to the 
wants of the four-footed tenants of your barn, hog-sty, &c. Do not 
undertake to winter more stock than you have abundant means of pro- 
viding for. When young animals are pinched for food at an early period 
of their growth, they never thrive so well afterwards, nor make so good 
stock. Sec that you have good stalls, stables, &c., page 236 ; cow- 
houses, page 43 ; a proper implement for cutting hay and straw, page 
48; an apparatus for cooking food for cattle and swine, page 49. You 
may also carry out and spread compost, soot, ashes, &c., on such of 
your mowing grounds as stand in greai need of manure. Though some 
say that the best time for top-dressing grass land is immediately after 
haying ; any time will do when the ground is free from snow, and the 
grass not so high as to be injured by cattle's treadnig on it. 



DECEMBER. 

Woodland. We think that cultivators may derive advantage from 
attending to the observations by the Hon. John Welles, relative to wood- 
lots, the manner of cutting them over, &c. Page 301. We advise 
every farmer, and his help, &c., so to treat domestic animals that they 
may be tame and familiar. It is said of Bakewell, a famous English 
breeder of cattle, that by proper management he caused his stock to be 
very gentle. His bulls would stand still to be handled, and were driven 
from field to field with a small switch. His cattle were always fat, 
which he said was owing to the breed as well as keep. Colts should also 
always be kept tatne and familiar, and you may then train them to sad- 
dle or harness without danger or difficulty. Page 04. The farmer 
should obtain his year's stock of fuel as early in the season as possible, 
and before the depth of snow in the woodlands renders it difficult to 
traverse them by a team. You may, when the ground is frozen, cut 
and draw wood from swamps, which are inaccessible for cattle in warm 
weather. If you cut wood with a wish that the stumps should sprout, 
let it be after the fall of the leaf, and before the buds swell in the spring. 
[See Gen. Newhall's statement, New England Farmer, Vol. X. p. 230.] 
The Rev. Mr. Elliot wisely recommended, when bushy ground, full of 
strong roots is to be ditched, beginning the ditch in the winter, when 
the ground is frozen two or three inches deep. The surface may be 
choj)ped into pieces by a broad axe, with a long helve, and the ditch 
completed in warm weather. The l'arn»er may, probably, hit on a. good 



AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 345 

time for this work in December, when there happens to be no snow, and 
when it will not interfere with other farming business. When the sea- 
son has become so severe that little can be done abroad, much may be 
done relative to farming operations, and other good works, by the fire- 
side, in contriving the proper course of crops for each field, settling ac- 
counts, reading useful and entertaining books, and laying the foundation, 
by mental culture, for the usefulness and respectability of those who 
compose the farmer's family. 



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